The Pastor's Buzz

Remembering the night I stepped into TheOoze and someone kicked a brick

2012-01-28T08:26:00.001-05:00

Blogger's Note: I'm writing this following Facebook responses to Davis Mitchell's posting of a Peter Rollins' presentation on YouTube entitled "I Deny the Resurrection," the title of which is a bit compelling, though isn't what it seems.

About 10 years ago, I discovered a site called TheOoze.com, one of the earliest online communities where emergent theology conversations were taking place.

The site was created by Spencer Burke, who was once pastor at Mariners Church, a 10,000-member congregation in Irvine, Calif. It's been a long time, but I have this memory of Burke saying back then that he was a burned-out pastor creating TheOoze.com out of room above his garage.

Late one night, I was journeying through the conversations and stumbled upon this one thread where the question was, in effect, "Can someone explain to me this thing about the 'holiness of God?'" I thought, "Sure, I can do that," and I penned something along the following:

"God is holy and can not be in the presence of sin. All humankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The blood of Jesus Christ, who was without sin, was shed for us. Those who have accepted Christ are covered by the blood of Christ and will be in the presence of God for eternity."

Basically, that was my answer, and I felt pretty good about it ... until someone else answered me in the thread:

"What a minute, you evangelicals say that all of the time. But if God could not be in the presence of sin, what about when God was in the presence of Adam and Eve after that thing in the garden? And what about the Book of Job, where Satan -- who is pretty much the personification of sin -- is parading in front of God making all those challenges and accusations about Job? And ..."

I was like, "Whoah ... what have I unleased here?"

But then, I started thinking about what that person on the other side of cyberspace was saying. And then I started thinking about my own theology, with constructs such as prevenient grace, where God is walking with us, loving us, wooing us, long before we might have even acknowledged God's existence, much less accept Christ.

It seemed like someone had knocked a brick out of my foundation and I spent the next 24 hours trying to put the brick back in place.

I got it in, but the mortar looks sort of sloppy, and you can still see the cracks.

I still believe in the holiness of God, and I still believe in the atonement of Christ, thus I still believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father unless it's through Christ. I also believe that those who come to Christ are drawn by the Father.

How the rest of it works out, how it is all manifested in the life and death of others' lives is beyond me.

I only know from my own experience ... and even that is through the glass darkly.

Nonetheless, once I stepped into TheOoze.com, I began journeying into other theological places that others consider swamps filled with snakes and are afraid to enter. I haven't found any snakes; however, I don't necessarily buy all of their constructs, either. Still, I became less fearful of questions concerning foundations that looked a little messy and maybe had a few cracks. I also became less fearful of throwing away bricks that didn't seem to fit my theology any longer.

I just try not to hurt anyone who might be in the path ...

It was time to 'walk on ... by faith'

2012-01-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

Sunday evenings are a time of decompressing for me, usually in the form of watching a movie or two with my wife, Donna.

This past Sunday night, we watched “Mississippi Burning,” with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI agents investigating the 1964 disappearance of two civil rights workers in Mississippi. The movie is said to be loosely based on the real-life kidnapping and slayings of civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney in Mississippi. The film closes with a graveside service and Lannie Spann McBride leading a chorus of James Cleveland’s “Walk On By Faith”:

We cannot see in the future, we cannot see through dark clouds.

We cannot see through teardrops, but walk on by faith each day.

The blues-like refrain of “(On Monday), walk on/(On Tuesday), walk on” mournfully resonated with me, and continued to do so during a quiet moment Monday morning as I prepared for my first Martin Luther King Day march.

At nearly 56 years old, you might wonder why it took so long. Chalk it up to journalistic restraint with regard to public demonstrations.

But this year, after due reflection on memories from my childhood during the civil rights era, I sensed the time was right to “walk on by faith.”

I was born into a working-class family in Richmond, Virginia: My father was a Richmond city police officer, and my mother worked as a secretary for a printing company. We didn’t live within city limits; rather, we lived in a little three-bedroom house at 6400 Horsepen Road in Henrico County, far from the city’s black population.

In 1961, when I was about 5 years old, a black woman named Corrine was hired to watch my older sister, Sheree, and me while my mother was at work. At some point, Corrine must have been convinced that it would be good for her son to come to the house and play with me during the day. (While not totally clear, in the cobwebs of my mind it seems it was my idea.)

I remember taking him over to meet my best friend, who was a couple of years older than me. The introductions took place with a fence between us and my best friend but I know now that the fence wasn’t the only thing that separated us: My best friend looked at my new friend and announced, “He’s a n-----.”

It’s the first time I recall hearing the word.

And that’s the only memory I have of Corrine’s son: Not his name, not his age, not his face; just an ugly word.

Even now as that memory stays with me, there is a need to “walk on by faith.”

My paternal grandfather had a number of professions. As a tradesman, he was a bricklayer, painter, wallpaper-hanger and plasterer; however, old-timers in Richmond remember him as a professional baseball player and, like my father, a Richmond city police officer.

In my youth, I idolized him; however, he was a complex man with moments of bigotry mixed with moments of compassion for people of color. It’s possible that having grown up somewhat impoverished himself in the city of Richmond, my grandfather empathized with poor people — whatever their color.

Still, there were people he was friendly with, though it appears they would never be his friends.

One day, we were passing through the ticket turnstile at Parker Field to see the Richmond Braves and my grandfather obviously knew the ticket-taker. He stopped for a moment and they talked and laughed. I thought. “He must be one of Grandpa’s friends.”

My grandfather later said offhandedly, “He’s a high-yellow.”

That’s the only memory I have of the ticket-taker: Not his name, not his face; just an ugly phrase that has stayed with me all of these years.

And so, even now, there is a need to “walk on by faith.”

Oddly enough, my mother’s family — waterfront people from an area of Virginia known as Tidewater — are people whom I recall exhibiting similar moments of bigotry mixed with moments of compassion for people of color and those who were impoverished. As for my mother, she seems to have compassion for all people, regardless of color, and there is no recollection on my part of her exhibiting any bigotry.

Yet, there is an abiding sense that I need to continue to “walk on by faith.”

In 1970, the city of Richmond was faced with court-ordered busing to desegregate schools, which eventually involved a plan to bus white children from the counties into the city, while black children from the city would be sent into the counties. One morning, as I arrived at what was then Brookland Junior High School in the county system, there was a huge black mass on one side of the field and a white mass on the opposite end of the field.

I joined neither side.

Memories of racial strife and violence lead me to “walk on by faith,” because it is only by exercising our faith that we can continue to build a “beloved community” in Blount County.

In the more than 20 years that I have been a part of the Blount County community, time and again I have seen a spirit of love and cooperation reign among people of all colors. True, there have been occasions when bigotry has raised its ugly head. However, in the wake of those instances the community came together and we were given a taste of the “beloved community.”

For the sake of that vision, may we continue to walk on ... by faith.

Buzz Trexler is also managing editor at The Daily Times, where this originally appeared online as a column.

"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day ..."

2011-11-12T07:38:00.002-05:00

"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver a eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. ... I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind."

"A Testament of Hope," by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Would that it could be said of us all ...

An All Saints litany once again speaks to no separation between secular and sacred

2011-11-01T08:45:00.000-04:00

I move in and out of what is called a Daily Office, a devotional practice, most often using an online site MissionStClare.com. It's the sort of practice that can sometimes help me stay centered spiritually when my prayer life gets disrupted.

On the church calendar, today is the Feast of All Saints and the Daily Office at MissionStClare.com included the following commemoration. I found it trulyinspiring and wanted to share it with you. I found it even more inspiring when I read the litany was composed by a journalist, particularly since I was recently chastised by a reader for "sermonizing" on the Opinion page. On Monday, I responded to his letter, noting that I do not divide my life between "the secular and the sacred."

Feast of All Saints 1 November NT

The litany of saints that follows is chanted annually at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington, D.C., at the principal eucharist celebrating All Saints' Day. It was composed around 1979, largely by William MacKaye, former religion editor of the Washington Post, though some of the images were taken from A Liberation Prayer Book of the Free Church in Berkeley, California, and has been adapted here and there in the subsequent years.

A Litany of All the Saints

* For all the saints, who from their labor rest,
* Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
* Thy Name, O Jesus, be for ever blessed.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones present at our beginnings:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Abraham and Sarah,
Isaac and Rebecca,
Jacob and Rachel and Leah,
makers of the covenant, forebears of our race:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Elizabeth and Simeon,
Joseph, Monica and Helen,
exemplars in the love and care of children:

Stand Here Beside Us!
John the baptizer, map-maker of the Lord's coming:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might:
* Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
* Thou, in the darkness drear, the one true Light.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones who showed the good news to be the way of life:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Thomas the doubter;
Augustine of Canterbury;
Francis Xavier;
Samuel Joseph Schereschewsky;
all travelers who carried the Gospel to distant places:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Bernard and Dominic;
Catherine of Siena, the scourge of popes;
John and Charles Wesley, preachers in the streets;
all whose power of speaking gave life to the written word:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Benedict of Nursia,
Teresa of Avila;
Nicholas Ferrar;
Elizabeth Ann Seton;
Richard Meux Benson;
Charles de Foucauld;
all founders of communities:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
* Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
* And win, with them, the victor's crown of gold.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones who gave their lives to the care of others:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Louis, king of France;
Margaret, queen of Scotland;
Gandhi the mahatma, reproach to the churches;
Dag Hammarskjold the bureaucrat;
all who made governance an act of faith:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Peter of the keys, denier of the Lord;
Ambrose of Milan, who answered the Church's summons;
Hilda, abbess at Whitby;
Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, protector of the Jews;
Jean-Baptiste Vianney, cure d' Ars,

Patient hearer of catalogues of sins;
All faithful shepherds of the Master's flock:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Mary Magdalen, anointer of the Lord's feet;
Luke the physician;
Francis who kissed the leper;
Florence Nightingale;
Albert Schweitzer;
all who brought to the sick and suffering the hands of healing:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* O blest communion, fellowship divine!
* We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
* Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones who made the proclaiming of God's love a work of art:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Pierluigi da Palestrina;
John Merbecke;
Johann Sebastian Bach;
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart;
Benjamin Britten;
Duke Ellington;
all who sang the Creator's praises in the language of the soul:

Stand Here Beside Us!
David and the Psalmists;
Caedmon;
John Milton, sketcher of Paradise;
William Blake, builder of Jerusalem;
John Mason Neale, preserver of the past;
all poets of the celestial vision:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Zaccheus the tree-climber;
Brother Lawrence;
Therese of Lisieux, the little flower;
Andrew of Glasshampton;
all cultivators of holy simplicity:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
* Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
* And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones haunted by the justice and mercy of God:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Amos of Tekoa, who held up the plumbline;
John Wycliffe, who brought the Scripture to the common folk;
John Hus and Menno Simons, generals in the Lamb's war;
Martin Luther, who could do no other;
George Fox, foe of steeple-houses;
all who kept the Church ever-reforming:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Paul the apostle, transfixed by noonday light;
Augustine of Hippo, God's city planner;
Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin, architects of the divine;
Charles Williams, teacher of coinherence;
Karl Barth, knower of the unknowable;
all who saw God at work and wrote down what they saw:

Stand Here Beside Us!
John, the seer of Patmos;
Anthony of the desert;
Julian, the anchoress of Norwich;
Hildegarde, the sybil of the Rhine;
Meister Eckardt;
Bernadette of Lourdes;
all who were called to see the Master's face:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Joachim of Fiora, prophet of the new age;
Johnny Appleseed, mad planter of Eden;
Sojourner Truth, pilgrim of justice;
Benedict Joseph Labre, priest and panhandler;
all whose love for God was beyond containment:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* The golden evening brightens in the west;
* Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
* Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones who died in witness to the Christ:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Stephen the deacon, the first martyr, stoned in Jerusalem:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Justin, Ignatius and Polycarp, who refused the incense to Caesar:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Perpetua and Felicity, torn by beasts in the arena at Carthage:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley,

Burned in Oxford:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein, put to death at Auschwitz:

Stand Here Beside Us!
James Reeb, Jonathan Daniels, Michael Schwerner,
Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, shot in the South:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Martin Luther King, shot in Memphis:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Janani Luwum, shot in Kampala:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Oscar Romero, shot in San Salvador:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Martyrs of Rome, of Lyons, of Japan, of Eastern Equatorial
Africa, of Uganda, of Melanesia,
martyrs of everywhere:

STAND HERE BESIDE US!
* But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
* The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
* The King of Glory passes on his way.
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Holy ones of every time and place:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Glorious company of heaven:

Stand Here Beside Us!
All climbers of the ladder of Paradise:

Stand Here Beside Us!
All runners of the celestial race:

Stand Here Beside Us!

[The people may call out saints' names]

Great cloud of witnesses:

Stand Here Beside Us!

Mary most holy, chief of the saints:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Mary most holy, yes-sayer to God:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Mary most holy, unmarried mother:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Mary most holy, gate of heaven and ark of the covenant:

Stand Here Beside Us!

* From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
* Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
* Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
* Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus our liberator, creator of all:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Jesus our liberator, redeemer of all:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Jesus our liberator, sanctifier of all:

Stand Here Beside Us!
Jesus our liberator, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and
the end:

Stand Here Beside Us!

The message and the medium

2011-10-07T13:51:00.003-04:00

The passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs earlier this week sent me down memory lane as I thought about how the invention of the personal computer changed the newspaper industry — not to mention my own personal communications, as well as worship and the church.

In 1996, my then home church Middlebrook Pike United Methodist in Knoxville launched an alternative worship service that engaged digital imagery, not just the projecting of lyrics. Today, such use of imagery is commonplace in worship, not only in megachurches, but small churches as well.

But then technology has not only influenced how we worship, but also how we communicate within the community of faith and relaying the Gospel to the world. From blogs, to Facebook, to YouTube and beyond, the Gospel is being proclaimed globally in bits and bytes through websites, emails, feeds, and digital newsletters, just to name a few of the technological communication devices.

And if we have the imagination to conceive such a thing, perhaps throughout eternity and beyond as the bits and bytes make their way into the heavens through mobil data streams riding the airwaves into who knows where.

What an incredible thought ...

(Incidentally, check out this cartoon by the prepress manager at the Boston Herald.

Waiting on the eternal, collective "Ahhhh ..."

2011-05-10T08:20:00.001-04:00

Jesus tells us "the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known."

That should be good news for postmoderns and others who have a great many questions concerning Christian spirituality.

When we have questions about about matters of faith, it is a healthy thing. Someone once said, "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith." If that be true, questions should neither be feared -- as if having questions alone would signal an abandonment -- nor should they be revered -- as if having questions means you are more enlightened than others.

After all, it is God who gives us a brain.

The New Testament is filled with questions, answers to questions, and questions left unanswered. The Apostle Paul, who answered a great many practical and rhetorical questions, looked forward to the day when God answered all questions: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)

What will the revelation of eternity be like? Will it be a cosmic form of "Jeopardy?" Neither Jesus nor Paul says, "All questions will be answered," but instead both suggest of a time when we receive revelation without questions.

Maybe, as a friend of mine once suggested, the most common utterance will be something along the lines of an eternal, collective, "Ahhhh ... now, I see."

Then, the church universal can truly proclaim, "I once was blind, but now I see."

Grace and peace ...

Judge Bell for yourself ...

2011-03-14T12:40:00.003-04:00

"Gandhi's in hell? He is? And someone knows this for sure?" -- Rob Bell

Rob Bell is young, evangelical, and pastors Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., which he founded in 1999

The 31-year-old writer published his first book, “Velvet Elvis: Repainting
the Christian Faith,” in 2005, and went on his first nationwide speaking
tour, “Everything is Spiritual,” in 2006. He followed that nationwide tour
with others: “Sex God” and “The Gods Aren’t Angry,” both in 2007, and “Drops Like Stars,” in 2009.

Bell also produces spiritual short films used in small groups under the name NOOMA, a play on the Greek word for spirit, “pneuma.”

All of that and more makes for Bell being considered one of the most influential young evangelical pastors in the nation.

But not everyone is enamored with Bell, particularly with his newest book, “A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,” set for release on Tuesday.

Advance reports on the book say Bell takes issue with the theological stance that “a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.”

To some, the resulting outcry falls just short of a cyber-witch hunt.

Among the responses cited by various media, including the New York Times, is one by John Piper, an influential pastor in his own right, who simply wrote, “Farewell, Rob Bell,” which would seem to be an evangelical divorce.

But in the same New York Times report, we read this from Scot McKnight: “Rob Bell is tapping into a younger generation that really wants to open up these questions,” he said. “He is also tapping into the fear of the traditionalists — that these differing views of heaven and hell will compromise the Christian message.”

Watch Bell's promotional video.

Then, read the book. Judge for yourself whether it’s heresy or “holy questioning.”

'Holy questioning' keeps our faith alive

2011-03-07T08:53:00.002-05:00

We’re on the cusp of Lent, that deeply introspective time in the Christian tradition that leads up to Easter.

For some Christians, it means Fat Tuesday’s coming, replete with stacks of pancakes heavily laden with butter and syrup, to be followed by Ash Wednesday and the possibility of fasting. (OK, I know it also means Mardi Gras is about to hit the streets of New Orleans, but that’s another column.)

Lent is a time when many in the Church focus on what are sometimes called the “means of grace”:

works of piety, including prayer, fasting, the reading of Scripture;
works of mercy, such as visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding and clothing the poor, doing other “good works”;
and sacramental practices, such as observing Holy Communion, and preparing new converts for baptism.

One other means of grace that is sometimes mentioned is “Christian conferencing,” whereby believers gather together and talk about matters of faith. There is even a movement in United Methodism that is called “holy conferencing,” through which those with opposing viewpoints on “hot-button issues” attempt to gather and dialogue about those things in a sensible, Christian manner.

But what about “holy questioning?”

“Rethink Church,” a recent denominational campaign, is launching a Lenten series entitled, “Fearless: The Courage to Question.” The associated website, rethinkchurch.org, announces itself this way: “A spiritual place for you to question, discuss, get involved and make a difference.”

Sounds like church, to me; at least, the churches I’ve been a part of for most of my Christian life. However, there is the belief among some outside of our church walls that questioning is not allowed in most, if not all, Christian faith communities. They see Christians as mere lemmings heading toward cliffs where unsubstantiated faith in a loving, saving God falls into a bottomless abyss. In some people’s minds, anyone who has questions about faith, or questions traditional theological interpretations, will soon find themselves on the suffering end of the right foot of fellowship -- right out the door, thank-you-very-much.

Someone once said, “Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith.” It’s been attributed to various theologians, but it really does not matter who uttered the words.

The truth is, doubting, questioning and conferencing about matters of faith keeps it alive.

May you keep your faith alive this Lenten season.

Only in The Meadow?

2011-01-16T18:37:00.000-05:00

We closed worship this morning at The Meadow with a Hank Willliams song, "I Saw The Light."

We had laughed with the children who all but mugged me for a container filled with Snickers, brought to me spontaneously by Alfonso during my time with the youngsters.

We had joked about the photo of a long-haired, 18-year-old Buzz thrown on the screen as part of my message.

After sharing the Word, the Bread, and the Cup, I left filled with the joy of the Spirit.

And I wonder: Does everyone have this much fun serving and worshipping the Lord?

To be sure, there are days when we all "bring the sacrifice of praise," in that we find it tough to get up, "go to church," serve, and worship. But days like today send those moments into the recesses of my memory.

I continuously thank God for allowing me the privilege of serving God's servants in The Meadow.

Grace and peace ...

'In the shelter of each other, we will live' ...

2011-01-02T22:23:00.000-05:00

Last week as I was looking toward Covenant Sunday in The Meadow, I pulled into the parking lot of Northshore's Kroger while listening to Love 89.1. The song on the radio had captured my attention with its chorus:

In the shelter of each other, we will live, we will live (you will never walk alone)

In the shelter of each other, we will live, we will live

As I listened, two things became clear: first, this was a song that spoke clearly of an authentic faith community; second, this song was from a Jars of Clay CD that had been in my possession since late last summer. It was a pre-release promotional CD I had been given entitled, "The Shelter."

The more I listened to the song, the more convinced I was that it was appropriate for today's Covenant Renewal Service at Green Meadow. This song, in fact, is the lyrical image of what it means to be in fellowship at Green Meadow.

I have been part of the community of faith that worships at Green Meadow for nearly nine years now. During that time, I have seen them "walk" with near strangers struggling with cancer, a fellow community member facing a double-lung transplant, the homeless, those in recovery, and countless others -- including their pastor, who six years ago was undergoing treatment for hepatitis C.

Truly, this is an authentic community of faith.

And we will never walk alone ...

Where have all the mystics gone?

2010-12-27T15:48:00.003-05:00

"There is probably nothing more truly radical than real persons of prayer because they are beholding to no ideology or economic system, but only to God. Both church and state are honestly threatened by true mystics. They can't be bought off because their rewards are elsewhere." ("Everything Belongs," Richard Rohr)

When I think of mystics, I can not help but think of A.W. Tozer, who is probably the closest thing we have to a true mystic in the Protestant tradition. The longtime Christian and Missionary Alliance preacher died in 1963, but his words live on through the scores of books and recorded sermons attributed to the man many call a prophet.

He was also an editor, leading the house organ of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Biographer James L. Snyder writes, "Under Tozer's leadership, the magazine's circulation doubled. Alliance Life, more than any one thing, established Tozer as a spokesman for the Alliance and to the evangelical church at large." ("In Pursuit of God: The Life of A.W. Tozer," 1991, Christian Publications, Camp Hill, Pa., p5)

Still, it was Tozer's life of prayer that is most inspiring, even intriguing. His attitude in prayer was one of unhindered and unabashed communication with God. This was so evident, Snyder says, that, "Often when Tozer prayed people felt as though God was right at this elbow. Sometimes they were tempted to open their eyes to see."

His posture in prayer would vary: sometimes kneeling erect, other times "totally prostrated on the floor, a piece of paper under his face to keep him from breathing carpet dust."

His attitude was one of reverent expectancy.

Ever since becoming aware of Tozer's legacy -- mostly learned through the writings of others, as well as his own, including "The Pursuit of God" -- I have been inspired by this focus on prayer as not just an intercessory action, but one of mystic communion with God.

Raymond McAfee, a longtime associate of Tozer's, tells the following story of prayer with the Chicago mystic:

"Tozer knelt by his chair, took off his glasses and laid them on the chair. Resting on his bent ankles, he clasped his hands together, raised his face with his eyes closed and began: 'O God, we are before Thee.' With that there came a rush of God's presence that filled the room. We both worshiped in silent ecstasy and wonder and adoration. I've never forgotten that moment, and I don't want to forget it." (Snyder, p145)

Experiences such as that are not the norm for most of us Christians -- but, why not? The mystic experience is nothing more than the mystery of experiencing God's presence in prayer.

Perhaps if we, too, regularly and humbly approached God with reverent expectancy there would once again be power in our preaching and teaching, drawing multitudes to the one whose presence has the ability to fill us with "wonder and adoration."

And if so, perhaps we would not feel so threatened ...

Grace and peace ...

The pure joy of fellowship and giving ...

2010-12-14T08:15:00.002-05:00

On a brisk December night, the community of faith who worship in "The Meadow" continued the tradition of gathering once a year for food, fellowship and an auction experience.

We generally have about 20 people who come with food, a wrapped gift, and the knowledge that they will be writing a check for something ... well, they don't know what, but for something. The $10 or so gifts are wrapped quite nicely and auctioned off by Wil Waugh, who tends to drive up the price.

I suspect most who attend the auction are like Donna and I: We decide how much we want to give to the cause, and bid accordingly.

I keep thinking, "There's a sermon in here somewhere."

Yep.

And it's found in a letter written by an early Christian named Paul:

"Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor. 9:7)

Well, there could not have been a more cheerful crowd on Sunday night when we raised more than $1,200 for Hope Center, a Latvian Methodist Church mission to young, single mothers. It's a mission quite similar to School of Hope and we have long thought would make a good connection.

This is what I would call "agape giving": Giving out of pure love and joy, expecting nothing in return.

What better way to keep Christmas real.

Grace and peace in this season of joy ...

Another community is possible ...

2010-12-02T09:02:00.004-05:00

Shane Claiborne and some other co-conspirators have long engaged in counterculture projects such as "Another World is Possible," (that's it's logo) "The Ordinary Radicals," and Shane's ongoing community in Philadelphia, "The Simple Way."

Admittedly, some of us might find Shane and other "modern monastics" as being really "out there" -- but, isn't that where we are called to go? Out There?

Like the Apostle Paul, I consider myself the "worst of sinners" when it comes to being a Christian Hobbit. You remember Hobbits, right? They're the ones in J.R.R. Tolkien's series who really have no desire to leave "The Shire." They're comfortable right where they live, thank-you-very-much.

The only problem is this: It's hard to be transformed when you stay in your comfort zone.

And how can we transform our community if we do not allow ourselves to be transformed?

Read the newspaper: Our community is sick, sisters and brothers.

And another community is possible, and it's possible when we bring words, signs and deeds that reflect ...

grace ... and peace.

Green Meadow on Facebook!

2010-11-16T21:50:00.001-05:00

Well, we finally got enough people "Liking" us to garner our own name on Facebook: GreenMeadowChurch.

So, what are you waiting for? Go Like us!

The Rhythm of the Spirit vs. The Rhythm of the World

2010-10-24T08:43:00.000-04:00

I've just returned from a week-long sabbath in Upper East Tennessee. Two days were spent hiking, but the majority of the time was spent doing various chores at the cabin -- preparing to paint, painting, hauling wood, moving smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, and other stuff.

"I wish you didn't have to spend all of your vacation working," my mom said to me.

My response was something to the effect of, "Well, at least I'm not sitting behind a desk."

Whether at The Meadow or The Daily Times, most of my work is done behind the desk, either creating a daily news report or finding a way to share the Good News on Sunday. Brain-work doesn't stop there: There is the occasional class that consumes my mind, the upcoming one being "Personal and Social Ethics."

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands," the Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, suggesting that staying busy with your hands keeps one from being a busybody and being part of the proverbial "devil's workshop." Still, I think working with your hands has another benefit: It frees up your mind to think of the things of God.

Hiking The Appalachian Trail and doing handyman stuff around the cabin this past week were both largely physical experiences that did just that for me: My mind was free to pray, to ponder Creation and Creator, and to allow myself to be renewed. In the busyness of my life, I miss such times.

The rhythm of the Spirit with its times of renewal produces harmony within an even pace, while the rhythm of the world strikes dissonant chords in the midst of an uneven beat.

Thankfully, we always have a chance to change our tune.

Solidarity

2010-08-22T16:57:00.003-04:00

Two things happened in September 1980: It was on Sept. 1st of that year that I began my professional journalism career.

Later that month, the Solidarity Movement in Poland began to take shape. It was the strikes led by Lech Walesa and the support the Catholic church that helped break up the Soviet Union.

Solidarity with the poor and the marginalized is a key component of Catholic social teaching; after all, it is a huge part of the Gospel.

But when you stand in solidarity with the poor and marginalized against the evil powers of this world, it can be costly.

And the church stood in solidarity with the strikers in Poland.

The presence and the witness of the church in this struggle was evident in many ways, including the celebration of the Eucharist and the saying of Mass among the strikers at the shipyard.

A priest named Jerzy Popieluszko, who regularly served the workers in worship, was killed by the Communist regime because of his connection with Solidarity.

Solidarity.

In Paul’s letter to the Jews and Gentiles in Rome, we find we are in solidarity with Adam, who sinned in the Garden. In the line of Adam, we share in the sin, the ruin, the death, separation, disobedience and judgment. We are separated from God.

There is solidarity with Adam, but there is also solidarity with Christ.

In Romans 6, Paul says we find solidarity with Christ Jesus, "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

"Since we have been united (since we are in solidarity) with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was."

In the early Church, a convert was baptized upon entry into the community of faith. Such a conversion sometimes separated the convert from his family.

He, or she, was a new person beginning life all over again.

The act of total immersion only added to this understanding of conversion: A person went fully under the water, signifying death, then rose up out of the water, as if rising up out of the grave.

It was a rebirth.

It was being born again.

It was a dying to sin and the old life.

It was living in grace with a new identity in Christ.

William Barclay explains that it was such a regeneraton that Rabbis maintained that the first child born after a man’s baptism was considered his firstborn, even if there were older children.

When we accept Christ, when we are baptized into Christ, there is a real solidarity with our Lord.

A person is in Christ.

One scholar Barclay notes put it this way: We cannot physically live without being in oxygen and having oxygen in us. Likewise, we can not be in solidarity with Christ unless we are in Christ, and Christ is in us.

As believers, we are all about being solidarity in Christ’s death. We want to die to sin so that it no longer holds us in bondage.

And we are all about being in solidarity with Christ’s Resurrection, because we want to live eternally with God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The final transformation is this: We need to be in solidarity with the life of Christ.

And to do so, we need to be in solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the outcasts of society.

Only then can we fully say we are in Christ, and Christ is in us.

Grace and peace.

BuzzNote: Background on the Soldarity Movement came from Wikipedia

Christ Followers seeking to live outside of community will suffocate

2010-08-18T22:00:00.002-04:00

Anne Rice is a well-known author who returned to the Catholic church some five years ago and recently decided to "quit being a Christian." Rice said she would still be a "Christ Follower," but would not be part of Christianity.

She sounds like a lot of postmoderns out there: Love the Christ; hate the church.

There's a problem, though, which is quite eloquently detailed in a column Jane Redmont: There's no such thing as being a solo Christian. A Christ Follower is by the very definition a member of the Church and you can not escape that mystical reality. By virtue of faith, belief and embracing Jesus Christ, you are part of the Church Universal. What you are not inherently part of is the church institutional; however, God is community -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and Christ Followers are created for community.

Community can be experienced in different ways: organizational churches, small groups, missions and ministry groups, just to name a few. But however it is experienced, Christ Followers must live in community or they will cease to live. Community is oxygen to the Christ Follower; trying to live outside of community results in oxygen deprivation.

Breathe ... breathe ... breathe ... Anne,

deeply.

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2010-04-21T21:18:00.001-04:00

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Journey Through The Desert: Who Are You?

2010-02-28T19:36:00.007-05:00

Who are you?

If you’re South Korea's Kim Yu-na, then you are also “Queen Yu-na,” and perhaps rightly so, given that Thursday night she scored 228.56 points, winning a gold medal and beating dthe previous world record by more than 18 points – a world record held by Queen Yu-na, who is a mere 19 years old.

Who are you?

If you’re Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, it’s a bit more complicated.

Part of his identity is wrapped up in a pretzel-like maneuver called the Hurricane that he does while soaring some 50 feet in the air on skis. It netted him a silver medal Thursday night.

But four years ago he was the guy who finished seventh at the Olympics in Turin, got into a street fight and was sent home.

He was also the man who watched a friend commit suicide in front of him; a victim of sexual abuse; an abuser of alcohol who fought depression and thoughts of suicide; and someone who lost his 5-year-old sister to a drunken driver.

Speedy Peterson, who prior to Thursday night was defined by triumph and tragedy, is at this point at the pinnacle of triumph for him, having won the silver medal: Peterson says he may even retire the Hurricane.

At 28, it seems he is ready to embrace a new identity: The overcomer.

Listen to what he told a reporter for The Associated Press, as tears streamed down his face:

“I know that a lot of people go through a lot of things in their life, and I just want them to realize they can overcome anything. There's light at the end of the tunnel and mine was silver and I love it.” ("Peterson lands a Hurricane, wins a silver," Eddie Pells, The Associated Press; February 26, 2010)

Who are you?

If you’re Nicodemus in today’s text (John 3:1-17) , you come into the story as a Pharisee. You’re a teacher of the law. You’re a member of the Jewish religious leadership; the Sanhedrin. The name Pharisee means “the separated one,” because Pharisees “were those who had separated themselves form all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the law of the scribes.”

It’s believed there were never more than 6,000 of them. ("The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Vol. 1," 1975, William Barclay, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Ky.; pp120-124)

If your name is Nicodemus, you weave your way in and out of the Gospel according to St. John.
In the 3rd chapter of John, you come to Jesus slinking through the dark of night, but affirming Jesus by saying, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.” (Most Scripture citations are from Eugene Peterson's "The Message." Exceptions are from The Revised Standard Version)
“Jesus said, ‘You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to — to God’s kingdom.’”

And then Nicodemus — the Pharisee, the teacher, the religious leader — engages Jesus in this wonderful discussion about childbirth, when the Rabbi is talking about something totally different.

He’s talking about spiritual rebirth, not physical rebirth.

The last words we get from Nicodemus are, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?
Jesus replies, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics?”

Who are you, Nicodemus?And that’s the last we hear from Nicodemus … that is, until the 7th chapter of John. Turn on over to Chapter 7, verse 45, if you like.

In between this Chapter 3 discussion about physical and spiritual rebirth with Nicodemus and Chapter 7, Jesus has fed 5,000, walked on water, and explained, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

He tells his disciples, "no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."

And some of them leave him.

Some in the crowds identify Jesus as a “good man.” But others are saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.”

“Who are you, Jesus?”

And the possibilities of his identity are thrown about:

“This is really the prophet.”

“This is the Messiah.”

“No, he’s merely a Galilean.”

And many call for his arrest.

Then here, in Chapter 7, Nicodemus the teacher of the Law becomes the defender:

“Does our Law decide about a man’s guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?”

And then the chief priests and Pharisees ask Nicodemus, in effect, ‘who are you’:

“Surely you’re not also from Galilee, are you?”

Who are you, Nicodemus?

Let’s move to John 19, because that’s where Nicodemus surfaces again.

Jesus has been crucified.

He’s said, “It is finished.”

And Scripture says, “Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

The soldiers have pierced his side.

Look at verses 38-42.

It would seem that along the way, throughout this journey that we find in the Gospel According to St. John, Nicodemus moves from the seeker in the dark of night, to a disciple who dared to be seen in the daylight.

"Who am I?” Nicodemus now answers, “I’m a disciple who loved my Lord, and I’m here to pay tribute to him.”

Incidentally: We only find Nicodemus in the Gospel according to Saint John.

This man is found in no other Gospel record by name.

There’s another man in Scripture who comes to Jesus.

We find him in Mark 10:46-52.

He’s generally referred to as Blind Bartemaeus and he’s a beggar sitting by the roadside.

Jesus and his disciples are leaving Jericho and Bartemaeus heard it was Jesus who was passing.

And the blind man shouts out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

But the story says, “Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more louder.”

To the people around him, Bartemaeus’ identity lay in the fact that he was a blind beggar.
Bartemaeus was anxious, because he had heard of hope.

He wanted a different identity.

The people around him tried to hold him down by telling him to be quiet, but he shouted all the louder.

How many times do we have people in our lives — even family and friends — who pull us back when we try to get to Jesus?

If you are struggling with something, and you’re trying to overcome it — to get well, to break the bonds of some sort of addiction, some besetting sin — don’t you know that there will be people in your life who need you to continue to struggle, to be “sick.”

Maybe it’s because if you’re sick, it makes them feel better about themselves.

Amen?

Some people need you to match a negative profile — “always the bad boy, always the bad girl, the wild child.”

There are sick family systems that need someone in the family to be the “bad one.”

The bad sister; the bad brother; the bad seed.

And so they send those messages, and you’ll have to pardon me, here, but these the words some people use:

“You’re no good."

“You’re a no good husband."

'“You’re a no good friend."

“You’re a no good wife … son … daughter.”

You hear these messages … these lies … and you’re stuck …

("Tuesdays With Beebes.")

What we believe about ourselves, and what we believe about our relationship to God truly defines who we are.'

And this is one of those yes-and-no statements.

Yes, from an orthodox Christian perspective, in that our relationship to God is defined by our relationship to Jesus Christ.

This is classic atonement theology: We’re separated from God because of our sin, but Christ paid the price for that sin through His death on the cross. Our acceptance of that makes us “at one” with God.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us the certainty that he lives, and that we, too, will live in eternity with God.

When we have a healthy understanding of this theology, it has a transforming effect on our life and what we believe about our self.

Granted, there are some sick-puppy preachers, teachers and churches out there who promote some unhealthy understandings and that, too, impacts what we believe about our self if we are in such an environment.

But what we believe about ourselves may not truly define who are. The reason: We are have a relationship with God even when we have not accepted Christ. Like Nicodemus, you may ask, “How can that be?”

Well, it’s not the same two-way relationship as when we have accepted Christ, but it’s a relationship nonetheless. Because God shows God's love for us even before we “know” God.

This is a classic Wesleyan understanding of grace.

God pursues us like a smitten lover, seeking to shower us with a reckless, furious love before we even know God. God is constantly knocking on the door, desperately wanting us to open up our hearts to God’s loving grace and a transformed life.

If in our cognitive self we believe we are no good, it does not negate the truth that our identity is still a loved child of God.

We've merely let someone, or some thing, steal our understanding of the true identity.

If you’re that “bad seed,” it may well be that it’s something that has been imposed on you. It’s your activity; not your identity!

If you’re in that sort of family system, and you come to Jesus, and you get well; if you were blind, but now you see; all hell can break loose in that family because of your wellness. ("Tuesdays With Beebes.")

And so, Blind Bartemaeus shouts all the louder, and Jesus heard him.

Why?

Because God always hears the cry.

And so, Jesus called him, asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Blind Bartemaeus says, “My teacher, let me see again.”

“Go; your faith has made you well.”

Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Who are you?

“I am no longer blind Bartemaeus; I am now the seeing disciple.

Who are you?

“I am no longer just Nicodemus the Pharisee; I am now a learned disciple.
Which raises the question, “Who are you?”

Come forward and pick up a promise in the desert.

Maybe you’ll find a new identity in Christ.

The Prayer of the Black Eyed Peas

2010-01-18T14:33:00.012-05:00

Somewhere in the cosmos there is an unwritten law of nature that says along about the 12th or 13th year of a child’s life, the adolescent must choose a style of music that irritates the parents.

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was rock ‘n’ roll, a style of music that was loud with sometimes suggestive, drug-fueled, raucus lyrics. It was something of a combination of urban blues, country and gospel music, with roots that can actually be found as early as the 1920s … the, uh, “Roaring 20s.” (Thanks, Wikipedia, for that synopsis.)

Everybody from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to psychologists were being quoted as saying rock 'n' roll was "corrupting" our youth. ("Those Crazy Rockin' Teenagers.")

Some of us cut our teeth on rock ‘n’ roll and couldn’t understand what all of the fuss was about … until we became parents, too, and our own children entered into those pre-teen and teen-age years.

We, however, decided that we wouldn’t be like our parents. We’d give our kids’ music a chance and not be arbitrarily condemning.

Incidentally, last August, on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, the Pew Research Center released a poll on the so-called generation gap. Its conclusion was that while young and old are still not on the same page, the "the differences seem not to matter anymore."

And as for music, The Associated Press story on the Pew study says this: "Rock rules across generations, and the Beatles are high on the list of every age group's favorite musicians."

When it comes to the music scene, maybe giving new styles of music a chance helped. After all, wasn’t it John Lennon and Yoko Ono who sang, “All we are saying, is ‘give peace a chance.’”

In the Trexler household, our kids grew up with different styles of music: Pop, rock, country, contemporary Christian. Still, we had this rule: If you wanted to listen to something different, something new, then mom and/or dad had to listen to it, too.

After all, monitoring media is merely responsible parenting.

Most of the time it was bubble gum music … stuff like Boyz 2 Men.

But then hip-hop came on the scene.

My instant reaction was … “Yeck.”

Working in the media, it wasn’t long before I was thoroughly educated on the negative aspects of that music. Now, lest you think I’m narrow-minded about this, there’s a lot of rock ‘n’ roll that I would have kept away from my kids as well.

According to one account, hip-hop culture was birthed in the early 1970s by African American and Latino youth living in the economically depressed South Bronx. The music was revolutionary in its exposure of social problems like drug abuse, racism and gang violence in their neighborhoods. But somewhere along the way, as often happens, the revolution gave way to capitalism. The music became more about getting more money, getting more sex, getting more drugs and the resulting violence.

As recently as 2008, a University of Washington psychologist noted the growing exploitational nature of hip-hop music:

“Black girls are not seeing positive images of who they are and what they can be,” said Carolyn West, associate professor of psychology and the study of prevention of violence at the University of Washington. “Looking at the sexual imagery really impacts on the functioning of teenage girls.” …

“What's changed over time is the greater sexualization of hip-hop. Initially, it started off as a revolutionary form of music. Now, large corporations produce images that sell, and there is a blatant link between hip-hop and pornography,’ Dr. West said.

“When young black women listen to lyrics and watch images that promote sexual conduct, they take on the persona that is illustrated in the music and treat themselves as sexual objects.

“It sets the foundation for future victimization and causes teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases,” Dr. West said.

When David starting listening to hip-hop while in high school, I took time to listen as well. If I remember correctly, it was a bit more tame as opposed to today’s hip-hop, but I still kept an ear on it.

I really didn’t like that driving, repetitive back-beat bass and drum and would tell him, in true 1950s and ‘60s parental fashion, “I don’t want to hear it coming down the hall.”

One day, David told me he was writing a paper on the life of Tupac Shakur, a rapper who was killed in 1996; in fact, it was not long after Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas that David decided to write his paper.

As a teenager, David was informed enough to be able to tell me the back-story of the hip-hop music industry with its labels like “Death Row Records,” “Flesh Bone Incorporated” and “Gangsta Advisory.”

Royalties were big; and greed was rampant.

Violence would sometimes erupt.

So, we sat down on the Internet and started reading about Shakur and we came across some of his poetry. Check this one out:

“Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature’s law is wrong it
learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.”

We read that poem together; I looked at my son and said, “David, this guy was an artist. He had talent, but he sold out to the money and the violence … and it got him killed.”

That was probably a lesson to my son, but it was also a lesson to me: Don’t judge an artist by one song or a group of songs, or you may miss a relevant message.

I’m not alone in this parental lesson.

Chuck Cerny is a friend of mine who happens to be a General Sessions judge in Knoxville. He’s also part of the Great Smoky Mountain Emmaus Community.

He served on this last men’s walk with me and gave a talk on changing our world through exercising our Christian beliefs.

Chuck had a similar story concerning his son, Chase, and hip-hop music. Chuck said they were riding down the road and he was getting a taste of The Black Eyed Peas, a hip-hop band that formed in Los Angeles in 1995.

Chuck and Chase had a deal: Chase would start a song, and if Chuck decided it was too risqué for some reason, Chase would have to fast-forward through it.

“You need to fast-forward this song, Chase,” Chuck would say, maybe explaining why.

Chase would start another song; they’d listen for a bit, and then Chuck would say, “Naw, Chase, you need to move past that one, too.”

Chuck said this went on for a few songs and then it came one that he continued to listen to … and at some point, tears started streaming down his face.

“What’s wrong, Dad? Do I need to fast-forward this one?”

Chuck said, “No, Chase, that one is OK.”

Now, all I am saying, as we listen to Chuck’s song and watch this video … well, rap may not be your thing, either, but give Peas a chance.

Take a few minutes and check out the video, "Where is the Love."

“People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love The love, the love” 

In Isaiah 62, we find the people of Israel returning from exile, living and worshiping in the midst of ruins. They are hungry, discouraged and desolate, crying out, "We are God's chosen. How did this happen to us? Why are you silent, God? Where is the love?"

And the prophet Isaiah comes forth, saying, “For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.”

Israel will be given a new name: “You will be called Hephzibah (which means, “My Delight is in Her”) and your land Beaulah,” which means “Married.”

“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

Where is the love?

There is the love.

There is the love.

Isaiah speaks words of encouragement, not discouragement to the broken peoiple.

Zion will be Yahweh's treasure, “a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

“Where is the love?” cries Israel.

“There is the love,” says Isaiah.

This is extravagant love poured out upon Israel, the bride.

It’s the same sort of extravagant love that Jesus lays out at the wedding in Cana after the vino dried up. Mary tells Jesus to do something about it, but the Messiah hesitates, saying, "My hour has not yet come."

But mom presses on, and Jesus relents. Still, he doesn't mix up a vat of Boone's Farm, but top shelf wine, lovingly pressed together and poured out for others.

Where is the love?

There is the love.

In a matter of weeks, we will remember that in his final hour Jesus again offered up wine during a final meal with his friends, sharing words that undoubtedly left them puzzled:

“Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And within 24 hours of speaking those words, the Savior of the world would pour out the last drops of wine in his body.

Where is the love?

There is the love.

Jesus poured out his life for us, calling us to pour out our lives for others.

Where is the love?

When the ground started shaking in a poverty-stricken island nation, among the tens of thousands who perished, and likely even more who were injured, were those in the family of Christ who were giving themselves for others.

Where is the love?

There is the love.

Broken and poured out amidst the concrete ruins of Port-au-Prince.

And continuing to be broken and poured out as the body of Christ mobilizes in the midst of chaos and ruins.

“I don't know how much longer we can hold out,” Dee Leahy told an AP reporter. Leahy is a lay missionary from St. Louis who was working with nuns handing out provisions from their small stockpile. “We need food, we need medical supplies, we need medicine, we need vitamins and we need painkillers. And we need it urgently.”

Where is the love?

There is the love … as the church responds with prayers, gifts and presence.

Thankfully, the positive response of the church to this great crisis has overshadowed the comments of one TV preacher who reportedly said Haiti has been “cursed” because of a “pact with the devil” in its history.

Truly disappointing words … words that inspire choruses such as …

“People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek …
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)”

If we’re going to be extremists, let us not be extremists in the form of TV evangelists or Midwestern anti-homosexual preachers who protest at the graves of our fallen soldiers, claiming these things are the wrath of God.

Let us be "extremists of love."

If the church is going to be a prophetic voice – which the church is, indeed, called to be – let it be a prophetic voice calling each of us to acts of mercy, love, compassion, and justice.

If we do this extravagantly, we lessen the chance that the world will question of us, “Where is the love?” but instead point to us, once again, and say as in the days of the early church, “There is the love.”

Where is the love?

There is the love!

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, for taking part in civil rights demonstrations.

While there, King wrote a letter using newsprint and scraps of paper. His audience was intended to be eight prominent Alabama clergymen who had urged King to cease his program of nonviolent resistance.

The audience eventually became the world.

King writes:

“Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’

“Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.’

“Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’

“Was not Martin Luther an extremist: ‘Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.’

“And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’

“And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’

“And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal ...”

“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love …

Where is the love, church?

The love is here, in this community of faith.

And it is there, digging through the rubble of Haiti, pouring out water, pouring out their lives for others.

And it is here, on The Lord's Table ...

Be-loved of the Father ...

2010-01-10T22:43:00.004-05:00

The story goes that on June 16, 2004, David Goldman said goodbye to his son, Sean, at Newark Airport, not knowing that it would be the last time he would see the boy for years. It was the beginning of an international child abduction case.

By nearly all accounts, David Goldman was a caring, loving father. The outcome, though more than six years in the making, was that father and son were reunited on Christmas Eve 2009.

In the midst of that journey, David Godlman told NBC News, “Every day that I’m missing my son, and my son is missing me, is nothing sort of a tragedy.”

Any one who followed this story at all, even the greatest cynic, would know that

Sean is the beloved of his father, David Goldman.

It was seen in the eyes of the father.

And it was heard in his words.

“I love you Sean. I love you. I love you.”

As I was preparing for Baptism of the Lord Sunday, I was struck by the words of one of my favorite conteporary theologians, the late Henri J.M. Nouwen, who was a spiritual member of a community of people with mental disabilities. In his message, “The Life of the Beloved,” Nouwen says he “learned a lot from people with disabilities about what it means to be the beloved.”

“Many of the people that I live with hear voices that tell them that they are no good, that they are a problem, that they are a burden, that they are a failure. They hear a voice that keeps saying, ‘If you want to be loved, you had better prove that you are worth loving. You must show it.’

“But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, ‘You are the beloved and on you my favor rests.’”

As baptized children of God, we need to embrace our belovedness, for as co-heirs with Jesus Christ, we, too, are the beloved.

Nouwen reminds us that it is only in embracing our own uniqueness, our blessedness, and our own brokenness that we can bless others in their brokenness.

In a thank-you statement released on Christmas Eve following the reuniting with his son, Sean, David wrote:

“Please know that my love and the rest of Sean's family's love for him knows no boundaries and we will go to the ends of the Earth to protect him and shower him with every ounce of love that we have.”

That’s what God longs to do for God’s be-loved: To shower us with his unending love that knows no height, nor width, nor depth.

Grace and peace ...

How would you introduce Jesus Christ as King?

2009-11-22T22:32:00.003-05:00

With today being Christ the King Sunday, the question placed before us is this: How can we have any understanding of what it means to claim Christ is King in our lives when we live in a Western democracy without any idea of what it means to live under a monarchy?

In some ancient cultures, kings were seen as divine, or at least serving as agents of the divine. You lived with the understanding that you were in complete surrender to the king. In Western democracies, we do not serve our elected leadership; in fact, quite the contrary. Our elected leaders serve at our will, and if they do not serve us well, we vote them out.

Perhaps the closest thing we have to royalty today are celebrities, which could explain the following introduction of Jesus by Steve Harvey, one of "The Original Kings of Comedy." Harvey is a professed Christian and appears to close his show with the following:

Certainly there will be some who claim Harvey's introduction is irreverant, but the crowd appears to "get it": The One who is coming up next is worthy of far greater exaltation and praise than is given to the various "kings" in the cult of celebrity; for instance, "The King of Pop," "The King of Rock," "King of the Hill" and "The King of Queens." But given our lack of understanding, it may be that this is the closest some of us can get to introducing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to a hurting and wanting world.

So, let us seek a more perfect direction. Let us seek to introduce Jesus as King through our participation in building the Kingdom of God -- through acts of mercy, compassion, grace and love.

'The Baptism of Rhodyjane' ...

2009-09-19T18:06:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday, I went to a river baptism connected to my Moms church, Roan Mountain United Methodist, and penned a column about it. There is also a video, but the date at the end of the video is wrong. It should read Sept. 13, but the video editor and I both missed it until it hit the larger computer screen. We've uploaded a corrected version, but for some reason the errant version is showing most of the time.

Oh, well. Maybe it'll straighten out at some point.

Here are short links to the column, photo gallery and video:

Photo gallery of "The Baptism of Rhodyjane": http://tr.im/rhodyjane_photos

Faith Today column of "The Baptism of Rhodyjane" with links to photos
and video: http://tr.im/rhodyjane_column

Grace and peace ...

We nurture Christians in training ...

2009-09-02T21:19:00.006-04:00

In the Trexler household, you ate one vegetable for every year you were alive — even when you tried to convince Mom and Dad that the veggies would be the death of you.

But veggies are your best friends.

Here's a list of the top 10 reasons, according to The American Institute for Cancer Research, why you should sign the treaty of leafy health and incorporate veggies into your diet:

Keep Trim
Prevent Heart Disease
Control Diabetes
Avoid Diverticulosis
Reduce the Risk of Certain Types of Cancer
Prevent Stroke and Other Diseases and Illnesses
Bring Blood Pressure Down
Lower Risk of Adult Blindness
Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
Pure Pleasure

But you know, and I know, that for some adults eating veggies goes entirely against their natures.

We know a man who will not eat anything green.

Despite the nurturing aspect of vegetables, it’s entirely against his nature.

Despite the nurture, it went against his nature.

Two of my favorite subjects in college were sociology and psychology.

One of the common debates among students of psychology and sociology is “nature vs. nurture.” The debate concerns the relative importance of a person’s innate qualities (their nature, which can have biological factors involved) versus their personal experiences (their nurture) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.

On the nurture side is the view that humans acquire all, or almost all, of their behavioral traits from “nurture.” The extreme of this is we are all born with a “blank slate” and our environment forms our behavioral traits.

Many now agree with psychologist Donal Hebb that our behavioral patterns are molded by a mixture of nurture and nature.

The story goes that a journalist once asked Hebb which contributes more to our personality, nature or nurture. The psychologist is said to have replied, “Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?”

While nature and nurture can and do work together to influence our behavior, in the Christian tradition we often speak of the “sin nature.”

The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church says this about Original or Birth Sin”:

Article VII: Of Original or Birth Sin
“Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.”

The Confession of Faith of The Evangelical United Brethren Church, which is the sister church we merged with in 1968, puts it this way:

Article VII: Sin and Free Will
“We believe man is fallen from righteousness and, apart from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is destitute of holiness and inclined to evil. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. In his own strength, without divine grace, man cannot do good works pleasing and acceptable to God. We believe, however, man influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit is responsible in freedom to exercise his will for good.”

In the Christian tradition, we refer to this as “The Fall,” which was the result of Adam’s disobedience.

In his book, "United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center," Bishop Scott J. Jones (2002, Abingdon Press, Nashville; pp51-53) notes the doctrine of The Fall “is the foundation of the whole way of salvation.

“If humanity is not fallen, then there is no occasion for this work in the heart, this ‘renewal of the spirit of our mind.’”

He goes on to explain that John Wesley refers to the doctrine of original sin as the “general ground of the whole doctrine of justification,” of justifying grace. It is, Jones says, an essential doctrine of Christianity; it is understood as the loss of the image of God; and it is a disease that requires the healing of our soul.

Wesley says the atoning application of Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, is the therapy we need for our soul.

It is the nurture that cures the nature.

And this is important as it relates to community because God lives in community: The Community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We were made in the image of God, built for community, before The Fall, which created a nature that is counter to community. Our nature is self-centered.

Our nature is, “It’s all about me,” rather than, “It’s all about thee.”

But when we come to Christ, we are again in community with God.

And when we are in community with God, we become God-centered.

And when we are in community with one another, we become other centered.

We nurture one another and are, in turn, nurtured.

And this is an important aspect of what life is like here at Green Meadow United Methodist Church, a.k.a. “The Meadow.

Because, here once again, is our mission statement:

“Our mission is to be an open gathering place to nurture Christians in training who, equipped by the Holy Spirit, go into the world and share the light of Jesus Christ.”

Because I’m a word person and, more importantly, we need to be able to explain what we mean by the statement, we began dissecting it last week.

We started with:

“Our mission is to be an open gathering place …”

And here’s how we broke it down:

We gather and are open to Scripture.

We gather and are open to God.

We gather and are open to others.

Now, if you haven’t already picked up on it, we’re at that next chunk of text in this statement:
“To nurture Christians in training …”

We gather and we nurture.

We gather others into the Body of Christ, nurturing them and helping them -- and ourselves -- to become living, growing disciples of Jesus Christ.

We do this to equip the body for ministry and mission in the world so that through the transformed lives of this community of faith, our community would be transformed.

John Wesley knew the importance of community and accountability in the Methodist movement. He started a network of “class meetings, societies and bands” for spiritual formation, biblical reflection and care-giving.

We have one adult small group and are looking at starting another.

We do this to be a part of the nurturing community of faith. We do this, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:13, with the hopes of attaining to “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So we are no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, but rather we would grow up in every way into him who is the head, even Christ Jesus.”

But as important as it is — and it is of the utmost importance — biblical teaching isn’t all of what it means to nurture one another.

We nurture one another as we provide a space of healing.

We nurture one another with faith, hope and love.

We nurture one another as we help one another grow as the Body of Christ.

In preparing for this message, I sent out an e-mail to the church, asking for those who were willing to share with me the ways they have been “nurtured” during your time at Green Meadow United Methodist Church.

Here are some of the replies:

“Buzz, I have given your question a lot of thought and I have decided that the way I have been nurtured the most at Green Meadow is learning how to have fun as a Christian. I have found out that I did not have to give up my sense of humor or my zaniness to be part of the flock. I have also learned that the flock openly acknowledges their own imperfections and accepts others as they are. I think that is a rarity that should be celebrated.”

I think that is summed up with something called “unconditional love,” and it is indeed to be celebrated …

Here’s another:

“When I was tired, mentally, physically, emotionally, you took me in. You gave me room and time to rest. The first Sunday (and the second) when Elizabeth joined me so that I wouldn't have to sit alone, I was surprised. It was a warm comforting gesture and one that I would not have expected. Green Meadow was almost immediately “family.” I didn't have to want to be part of the family because you welcomed me in. I was never on the outside. I rested in your love until I was able to begin being a part of the work of the church. I want to be part of everything that you do, and I feel as if I can never ever do enough. The Meadow is the only place in my life I have ever tithed — it is the only place I have ever felt that God's work came first.”

And another …

“It is hard for me to express all the ways Green Meadow Church has influenced my life. I felt welcome from the first time I walked in the door. I have been in church some where since I was 5 years old, but never in a place where I felt so much at home. … (She goes on to say that when she was widowed) “I was left with learning how to manage my life without him and I needed an anchor that I found in the people at Green Meadow. I found strength to go on when things were difficult and knowledge in the selected Scripture that gave me direction. I have seen how willing everyone is to invite others to to be a part of the mission work that is so much a part of the church. … I know my life has become richer because of my association with these wonderful people I call my best ever friends.”

There were many other things that were said about this church, but I wanted you to get the sense of what is of great importance: This sense of community.

We nurture one another through the study of Scripture, being open to one another’s views and theologies.

We nurture one another through the breaking of bread — whether it be the sharing of someone’s herb gardens, or friendship bread, or breakfast, BBQ, or — of huge importance — the Lord’s Supper.

We nurture one another by the sharing of burdens, through prayer and visitation.

And there are times when we have to carry one another along, because the journey here at Green Meadow is not a solo journey.

Of all people, your pastor is most aware of that.

For you have often carried me in ways that a family carries one another:

In prayer, and through a year of chemotherapy.

Through the many ways in which you exhort me, and lift me up, just when I need it -- and I know you do it for each other.

Not too long ago Donna sort of watched a war movie with me. Most of the time I have to watch guy movies alone, but this time she went along — sort of. She worked on some other stuff while the movie was running. The movie was “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young.” It is based on a true story about the first time U.S. forces formally met the Vietnamese army on the battlefield.

What you are about to see is a deleted scene from the movie that takes place back in the states at the Protestant chapel on the base from which the 7th Infantry, First Division, had been deployed in November 1965 to Vietnam.

This scene depicts the families (mostly the wives) of the soldiers, who are in church days after their husbands have gone off to war.

One of the young wives is introduced by the pastor and is to sing the Offertory.

This, sisters and brothers, is a sign of community carrying each other along.

The woman who first picked up after the singer faltered is the wife of the commander of the division, and soon the other wives, and then the entire congregation are singing.

This is a wonderful illustration of how, when we are afraid, or unsure of our faith, or under some extreme trial, the faith community sustains us, and reminds us of the faith that we, by ourselves, may not be able to articulate or even access.

Sisters and brothers, we the Body of Christ are called to be the solid rock for one another, giving each other food for the faith … and strength for the journey.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and peace ...

What will you find in The Meadow?

2009-09-01T08:16:00.004-04:00

Author and illustrator Anne Hunter uses a series of books to educate young readers about nature while they are learning to read.

Books such as “Possum and the Peeper” and “What’s in the Tide Pool,” “What’s In The Pond?” and “What’s Under the Log?” all of which seek to satisfy the curiosity of young readers who are just itching to stretch their imagination and cognitive legs.

While I was perusing her titles, this is the one that really caught my interest: “What’s In The Meadow?”

I tried to find this book at Barnes and Noble and Borders, but discovered that you have to order it online.

In the reviews, I found that Anne Hunter talks about and illustrates 10 creatures that can be found in The Meadow, but I have to settle for only knowing about five of those creatures:
Meadowlarks, spittlebugs, fireflies, eastern moles, and woolybear caterpillars — who can not only be found in meadows, but for some reason like to cross East Tennessee roads. Incidentally, the wooly bear caterpillar carries a bit of Appalachian folklore. Once they arrive on the scene, folks like me check out the color to see what sort of winter we’re going to have. I know it’s superstition, but it’s nonetheless fun.

So, now you know what’s in The Meadow — or, at least five of the 10 creatures.

But what if someone came up to you and asked, “What’s Green Meadow United Methodist Church all about?

“What’s your purpose?

“What’s your mission?”

And as we all know, there are some sisters and brothers who just call us The Meadow — thanks to the Web site — Green Meadow Church of God and Meadow United Methodist Church notwithstanding.

So, “What’s In The Meadow?”

Well, if we did a little more than scratch our heads, some of us might remember this:

“Our mission is to be an open gathering place to nurture Christians in training who, equipped by the Holy Spirit, go into the world and share the light of Jesus Christ.”

Well, that’s a mouthful, and what does it really mean?

It’s broken down this way:

Our mission is to be an open gathering place …
Our mission is to nurture Christians in training …
We are equipped by the Holy Spirit to engage this mission …
Our mission is to go into the world and share the light of Jesus Christ.

Having broken it down for a series of messages, I’ll try to encapsulate each in blog form in the future.

Grace and peace ….

Taking time to consider the path

2009-07-02T08:14:00.005-04:00

I have a difficult time shutting down.

Earlier in my journalism career, I couldn't go out of town on vacation without picking up copies of out-of-town newspapers and watching broadcast news. I changed that habit sometime in the mid-1990s because it seemed I was always wondering, "Did we play that story correctly back in Maryville? Did we miss it entirely?" In short, I wasn't shutting down work; therefore, I wasn't truly on vacation. I wasn't taking a sabbath. So, nowadays, I try not to engage in the news while on vacation or sabbath.

My first vacation following the entry into pastoral ministry was sort of that way as well. We went to Folley Beach, South Carolina, and I spent the greater part of vacation preparing worship experiences. I was totally out of balance.

Since coming to The Meadow in April 2002, I have pretty much held it in balance when it comes to my time away; however, the church is never far from my mind. So at some point I find myself walking the beach and praying, "Lord, where is it you want us to go? What can I do at Green Meadow to help us become the church you have called us to be? Where do we go next?"

I do not see that as a failure to shut down, but to come out of my time away with a clearer vision and plan to move this ministry forward for Christ. The reality is this: I can not shut down who I am as your pastor, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, nor do I want to shut it down.

I'm not doing grunt work while I am a way, it's Spirit work.

A few weeks ago I asked that you be in prayer this summer for where God wants us to go next. I think God has given me the vision for where he wants me to lead next, but I want you to continue in prayer with me that God would sharpen that vision.

This morning, I read the following from The Call 2, the online version of the Holston Conference's newspaper. Here's a short URL to reach it: http://tr.im/thecall. The Bishop recounts a portion from Madeleine Albright's book that deals with the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and a call that Tom Burnett made from Flight 93. Burnett said, "I know we're going to die, but some of us are going to do something about it." When I read the following, this vision of where to lead next took a bit of shape:

Since that awful morning, the memory of their heroism has inspired us. It should also instruct us. The reason is that when you think about it, “I know we’re going to die,” is a wholly unremarkable statement. Each of us could on any day say the same. It is Burnett’s next words that were both matter-of-fact and electrifying.“Some of us are going to do something about it.”

In focusing on mission and being open to doing church in a different way, we have moved beyond the mentality of a small church looking to merely survive. Nor are we in the mode of asking the district superintendent to "just leave us alone and let us die in peace." (Believe it or not, a former district superintendent shared the latter experience of having been told that by a church's leadership.)

Some churches have taken the attitude of, "I know we're going to die. Just leave us alone and let us die in peace." Ever since coming to The Meadow, the Spirit has been moving us ... and I believe we have been following. In finding creative ways to be in mission, we have taken what is the road less traveled by a church with 20 to 25 on an average Sunday worship.

I believe God has presented us with another point in our journey where the paths diverge. Pray with me that our path is made clear. It may again emerge as the road less traveled. If so, we can again trust that the power of God's Holy Spirit will propel us and sustain us along way.

Grace, peace and love ...

2009-06-29T10:27:00.002-04:00

I was doing daily offices at Mission St. Clare and noted that today is the day when the Church commemorates the martyrdom of Peter and Paul.

Peter confessed "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" and is believed to have been crucified upside down.

Paul reached a point in his ministry where he proclaimed "To live is Christ, to die is gain." He is said to have been beheaded.

Are we ready and able to count the cost of following Christ? It is not likely that we in the Western Church face crucifixion or beheading; in fact, the road is generally pretty smooth. Most of the time it costs us nothing to follow Christ.

Perhaps there is power in costly discipleship ...

Grace and peace.

The end of a tough week for celebrities ...

2009-06-26T07:38:00.003-04:00

The superstition in the cult of celebrity is that death comes in threes. This week, it seemed to play out with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

As a Boomer, I'm still trying to get my head around the news. As a Christian, I stopped for daily offices at Mission St. Clare and was presented with these words from a 17th century poet, Baron Friedrich R. L. von Canitz:

Wake my soul with all things living
thanks be giving to the Source of life and day
Sunlight comes and gone confusion,
night's illusion, like the starlight
fades away.

All your hopeful plans confessing
ask for blessing on that good which you would do
but if you should need correction, ask direction
pray for purpose
clear and new.

Cry for help, when griefs assail you,
good friends fail you, life seems hopeless, death appears.
One whose child knew deep affliction,
crucifixion,
ever waits to dry your tears.

Wake my soul with all things living
thanks be giving to the Source of life and day
Sunlight comes and gone confusion,
night's illusion, like the starlight
fades away.

Thank you, God, for this day in which to serve you. I thank you that I know I am yours, and you know what this day holds for me. Cleanse me of any thing that would hinder the work of your Holy Spirit in my life. Use me to touch someone in your name today. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

And then the Spirit fell ...

2009-06-16T22:31:00.008-04:00

I had read Adam Hamilton's book "Leading Beyond the Walls" as part of an evangelism class. I believe it was two or three years ago.

So it was that I was prepared for this afternoon's session at Holston Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, N.C. I had even shared some of that book with the community of faith that worships at The Meadow, during worship as well as a Sunday morning small group that one of my congregants leads. I included some of the questions it raised, on behalf of the church as well as those we seek to reach:

Would it matter to the commuity if your church was not here?
What do you say to someone who asks, "Why do I need Jesus Christ?"
What do you say to someone who asks, "Why do I need the Church?"
What do you say to someone who asks, "Why do I need this church?"

Still, even though I was familiar with some of the material, there was much offered this afternoon that sent my head spinning with challenges and possibilities for the Green Meadow community of faith.

Tonight, his words concerning preaching and worship were even more thought-provoking and challenging, but they were also somewhat convicting -- to use some religious-speak. I thought it was just my normal tendencies toward self-flagellation for wanting to do more in terms of ministry but feeling constrained by time and my other full-time vocation. Still, he was teaching -- nay, preaching -- on what has long been my most favorite and most studied aspect of ministry: Worship. And it was as if I were a grade-schooler sitting at the feet of a teacher and learning for the first time.

Quite honestly, it was most disconcerting and nearly disturbing. I was asking myself, "This is not the first time I considered some of this. When did I forget these things? Have I been going through the motions on some Sundays?"

Hamilton turned it over to the Bishop and I followed the writer and preacher out to the book-signing table where I purchased a long-overdue Christmas gift for my brother-in-law, as well as a couple of books for myself before returning to the auditorium. Trinity UMC's praise band was already into the final worship set. I joined the rest of the congregation in a moving time of worship in music.

When it ended, we were all packing up to leave when Bishop Swanson stepped out in the Spirit, offering pastors the opportunity for prayerful reflection upon the teaching we had received before leaving Stuart Auditorium. He called Trinity's praise leader back to the keyboards and asked her to play softly as he made the invitation. One by one, an untold number of pastors moved to the front, some kneeling and others standing, possibily joined by some lay people. The Bishop prayed and -- believe me, I do not use this phrase lightly -- in my humble opinion the Holy Spirit fell.

It's hard to guess what was happening to others, but when I opened my eyes and moved out of the crowd it was obvious many were moved in one fashion or another. For me it was a powerful moment that I intend to reflect prayerfully upon for the remainder of tonight and likely for some time.

It may be a turning point in this ministry I am engaged in for the sake of Jesus Christ and the transformation of the community in which I serve.

At least, that is my prayer.

Will it be your prayer as well?

Grace ... and peace.

Remembering the Rev. Ray Robinson ...

2009-03-22T08:02:00.006-04:00

We were at The Meadow taking part in a fairly extensive work day with other Meadow folk and volunteers with Family Promise of Blount County when Carol Green told me Ray Robinson was in critical condition at UT Hospital. I learned later that Ray had died.

I knew of the Rev. Ray Robinson long before I met him. He was held in high regard by longtime members of Middlebrook Pike UMC in Knoxville, which was my home church for more than 15 years. Ray served that church from 1965-69, the church's history records it as "a time when we needed a boost."

The history, some of which I still have on my hard drive, goes on to say this:

"It was as if we had 'bottomed out' into a low plateau of enthusiasm, interest and church growth. The Rev. Robinson got the church 're-organized and re-vitalized.'

"Fellowship dinners were started; a newsletter, the 'Messenger,' was published; the old Hammond organ was replaced with a new and larger one; landscape improvements were made; and our first pictorial directory was completed.

"Attendance and programs increased as a new feeling of spiritual alertness permeated the congregation. Plans for a new education building came into focus."

After Ray retired, his charge was at Maryville First UMC. He knew of my connection to Middlebrook as well as of my work at The (Maryville) Daily Times. He would occasionally take me to task about something he didn't care for in the newspaper -- never in a mean way, but in a challenging way.

I'm guessing that was the way he served at Middlebrook, as well as his other pastorates: Challenging disciples to move forward for the Kingdom.

Please pray for his wife Jane, daughters Anne and Joy and their families, as well as for the many friends and family members who are affected by his passing.

Grace and peace ...

Steven Doyal sermon on hate ...

2009-01-19T08:54:00.003-05:00

"Smoldering Cauldron" is absolutely one of the most concise, resounding messages on hate I have read. On this day of historic note, and the day before another historic moment, it would do everyone well to read it and take it to heart.

Grace and peace,
Buzz

Christmas: When Love Came to Town

2008-12-30T19:59:00.004-05:00

The story goes that a boy and his dad were walking through the woods one day when they came upon some ants working furiously to clear a path, but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

The bod and his dad watched the ants work for a long time. At some point, the boy looked at his dad and said, “You know, Dad, if I could become one of them for a short time, I could help them.”

God loved Creation so much, that he injected himself into Creation as Jesus the Christ. C.S. Lewis writes, “He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love.”

That is essential for us to understand: God is love, and because Jesus Christ was God incarnate, Christ was love. And because Christ has risen, Christ is love.

English poet Christina Georgina Rosetti penned a number of poems, including two that have found their place as hymns in the United Methodist Hymnal: “In the Bleak Midwinter,” and “Love Came Down at Christmas.”

In her poem, “Love Came Down at Christmas,” Rosetti writes:

"Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine.

"Love was born at Christmas — star and angels gave the sign.

“Worship we the Godhead, love incarnate, love divine.

“Worship we our Jesus — what shall be our sacred sign?”

When I think of that song today, I think of a song that U2’s Bono and blues legend B.B. King once teamed up to perform: “When Love Comes to Town.” Here’s a taste of the lyrics:

"I was there when they crucified my Lord.

"I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.

"I threw the dice when they pierced his side.

"But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide.

"When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that train.

"When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that flame.

"Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, but I did what I did before love came to town."

Because love came to town in the God-man Jesus Christ, the world has never been the same.

Because love came to town, a handful of disciples followed an itinerant preacher, and the world was turned upside down.

Because love came to town, the hungry have been fed.

Because love came to town, the naked have been clothed.

Because love came to town, the imprisoned have been visited.

Because love came to town, we have been challenged to love our enemies — and given the power of the Holy Spirit with which to do so.

Because love came to town, this community of faith has embraced teen moms and given them an opportunity to build a better life for the children they have brought into this world.

Because love came to town, several communities of faith in Blount County have joined together to shelter homeless families in a new organization called Family Promise of Blount County.

Because love came to town, workers recently banded together to help put food on the table, gas in the tanks, and a few gifts under the trees of colleagues who have been laid off.

I dare say that when love comes to town in your heart, you look at Christmas as something far more meaningful than the change of celestial seasons. You may even see it as an incarnational event that has transformed your life. I know I do.

When we think of the baby Jesus, lying in a manger, we think of love. Yes, love came to Bethlehem town: Love was eventually rejected; love was beaten; love was crucified on a cross; and love was buried in a borrowed tomb — but love rose again.

And because love came to town, my sins, your sins, have been forgiven.

Green Meadow United Methodist Church has a place in cyberspace, it’s called TheMeadow.org.

I couldn’t help but put the U2 and B.B. King video performance of “Love Comes to Town” on our church’s Web site as we lead up to the Christmas Eve worship experience. (I’ve since moved on to another video, but you can find the U2-B.B. King performance on YouTube.)

During that video rendition, Bono says, “B.B. King not only invented the blues, he’s got a cure for the blues.”

To which B.B. responds, “Yes, my cure for the blues tonight is love.”

“I said my cure for the blues tonight is love. Is there love in the house tonight? Is there love in the house enough tonight to make you want to help somebody? Is there love enough tonight to not make you want to hurt anybody?

“Then … there’s love … in the house tonight.”

"I was there when they crucified my Lord.

"I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.

"I threw the dice when they pierced his side.

"But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide."

The divide between us and God has been bridged through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The great gulf of death has been conquered by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine.

“Love was born at Christmas — star and angels gave the sign."

It’s my prayer that love will come to town in your heart in 2009.

Grace and peace ...

Christmas and Conspiracy in The Meadow

2008-12-25T22:53:00.005-05:00

As I began worship services for Advent at Green Meadow UMC, I stumbled upon the Advent Conspiracy. I led off with a worship experience with a Conspiracy theme, and introduced the congregation to the idea of an Advent where we sought to Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All -- the idea behind the Advent Conspiracy.

As we moved through Advent, I believe we actually did those very things:

The Wednesday before the 1st Sunday in Advent, The Meadow conducted a charge conference where the community agreed to formalize our cooperative mission with Family Promise of Blount County, which includes renovations for the purpose of housing the day center under a lease agreement to be negotiated by the trustees of Green Meadow and Family Promise of Blount County.

On the 1st Sunday in Advent, the community held its annual benefit auction and dinner, raising about $1,400, with half going to help with renovations for Family Promise of Blount County Family Day Center, and the other half going to School of Hope.

The community of faith at Green Meadow contributed just under $200 out of $1,500 that was raised to provide for families whose bread winners had been laid off by a local company. (Pastor Buzz and Donna made deliveries to eight families, ranging from Rutledge to Niota.)

The Rev. James R. Green led worship on two Sundays in Advent, allowing Pastor Buzz to attend to daughter Elizabeth's graduation and relocation.

To be sure, this was a different season of Advent and Christmas. And while I believe it was unintentional, for we were merely living out life as a community of faith, the people of The Meadow lived out the Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All.

Grace and peace ...

Family Promise of Blount County coming to The Meadow!

2008-12-05T09:25:00.006-05:00

Grace and peace to you in this season of Advent!

While not in the most timely manner, it is with great joy that I report to you the results of the December 3, 2008, called Charge Conference at Green Meadow. The community of faith was in one accord with the following:

To formalize our cooperative mission with Family Promise of Blount County, which includes renovations for the purpose of housing the day center under a lease agreement to be negotiated by the trustees of Green Meadow and Family Promise of Blount County.

What that means is we at Green Meadow and Family Promise of Blount County can now begin the work of raising $17,000 to prepare our church to be the Family Day Center for homeless families. The families will stay in one of 13 host churches during the night, coming to Green Meadow during the day.

There is lots of work left to be done, but this is an important step in the birthing of Family Promise of Blount County, and the life of Green Meadow as a missional community. May God continue to bless both communities as we seek to serve Jesus Christ by serving the least, the last and the lost. If you would like to give specifically to the Family Promise mission, please make the check out the Green Meadow, noting "Family Promise" on the memo line.

A stewardship note: In addition to our ongoing budget needs, we are in need of "extra-mile" giving as we seek to meet our obligations as a connectional United Methodist Church (that means our apportionments, which total nearly $11,000 this year). If you would like to write a check above your regular giving specifically for our apportionments, please note that on the memo line.

A missional note: Community Food Connection is barely keeping up with the growing number of hungry people in Blount County. Be sure to bring your peanut butter this Sunday, as well as any other "extra" food you may have on hand.

Grace and peace ...

Lamenting dropped signals and lost connections …

2008-11-22T22:24:00.007-05:00

There’s a funny AT&T commercial on television these days.

Apparently some poor consumer is being dragged by police from his friend’s home. His “cell phone” (which looks just like the consumer) explains that that his friend said he could use the house, but just as he was getting the alarm code, his cellular signal “dropped” and he lost the connection.

I know something about “dropped signals” and lost connections, because I have a confession to make: I’m one of those people you hate on the highway. Yes, I use my cellular phone while driving.

I know, I know: It’s not safe, but I have about a 20-minute commute from my office at The Daily Times to my home in West Knoxville. I tend to use that time to call my mother at Ripshin, or someone else who comes to mind. If I don’t make the call when I think about it, I may forget before I get home!

I do this so often that I know exactly where the dropped-signal points are encountered by Sprint users. As the handcuffed cell phone user in the AT&T ad can attest, losing a connection can have disastrous consequences -- for cell phone users, as well as Christians.

God created us to live in community and when believers fall out of community -- i.e., when they fail to gather in worship, mission and discipleship with their community of faith -- it impacts ministry, as well as the believer's spiritual life.

Dropped signals and lost connections are sometimes a part of life, but they don't have to be a permanent occurrence.

After nearly seven years of journeying with God’s people in The Meadow, I am grateful to have experienced faith, hope and love in this small community. I am convinced that God is calling this community of faith to journey the path of existing solely for the benefit of the “others” in our midst, to share with those who are on the verge of losing hope the words of Jeremiah 29:11:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

It's never too late to reconnect.

Grace and peace …

Choose Wisely

2008-11-09T21:24:00.010-05:00

“Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

As I was reading these words the day after we elected Barack Obama — and I say, “we,” because it was our political process — there is a scene from an Indiana Jones movie that sprung into my mind’s eye. You may have seen the movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Toward the end of the movie, Jones meets the ancient Knight Templar who guards the “Holy Grail.” Christian legend maintains the Holy Grail was the cup used by Jesus during the Last Supper and it is said to possess miraculous powers. The root of the legend is a 12th century writing in which Joseph of Arimathea is given the Holy Grail by an apparition of Jesus. The cup is finds its way to Great Britain.

Later writers pen accounts where Joseph used the Grail to catch Christ’s blood while interring him and that in Britain he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe.

And then we have King Arthur’s search for the Grail and so on, and so on, until finally we come to Steven Spielberg’s adaptation where Indiana’s search for the Holy Grail has ended in this room filled with many choices of chalices: gold cups, platinum, silver, terra cotta and wood.

The Knight Templar tells Indiana, "You must choose, but choose wisely, for as the real grail brings eternal life, the false grail brings death.”

But Indiana isn’t the only one searching for the Holy Grail, of course, as there's a bad guy involved.

The bad guy comes in, looks around, and spots a glittering golden cup.

"Truly the cup of a king," he says, and drinks from it.

Shortly afterward, he goes through this metamorphic transformation to a nearly mummified figure before turning to dust.

The Knight Templar looks at Indiana and the bad guy's female companion and simply says, "He chose poorly."

Indiana spies a wooden cup, and says, "The cup of a Gallilean carpenter."

Still, he has that trademark Harrison Ford look of fear before he drinks from the cup.

"You chose wisely," says the knight.

He chose wisely.

We’ve just come off a week where tens of millions of people across USAmerica stepped into the voting booth and made a number of choices, one of which was the choice of who will lead this nation for the next four years.

I put in about 12 to 14 hours on Election Day.

I arose, went to Bluegrass School and voted. It took me about 30 minutes and, for some reason, I got the sense that there was a different feel at the polling place.

Since I was working election night, I went home and was prepared to get to work on this morning’s service, but all I could think about was election coverage. We were actually doing some live video feeds over the Internet, so I decided to go in early to make sure we were on task.

I went to the Post Office and then stopped by a coffee shop. The only way to put it is this: There was an air of jubilation, and no one had to tell me that these were Barack Obama supporters. The discernment came through loud and clear.

I knew then that the day was going to be different.

Many of us saw the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago when President-elect Obama gave his victory — some would say his inaugural — address Tuesday night.

There were tears of joy.

There were hope-filled eyes, and certainly hopeful hearts.

There were, actually, in some cases, expressions of worship.

It’s safe to say that millions of people have invested a great deal of emotion, a great deal of hope, in this one man, Barack Obama.

In campaigning for the presidency, Obama's laid out his reasons for such hope:

An end to our involvement in Iraq, having all troops removed within 16 months.

The lifting up of those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, bringing them to the middle class.

Providing accessible, affordable coverage for all, and reducing health care costs for families.

And more.

The hopes, the dreams were cast … and USAmerica made its choice.

And now, President-elect Barack Obama has begun making his own choices as to how he will fulfill the hopes, the dreams of the millions of voters who put him in office.

Will he be able to do that?

Well, New York Governor Mario Cuomo puts it this way: “You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose.”

It seems that, once they get to Washington, even the most humble and well-meaning public servant finds his or herself corrupted or influenced by corrupted forces. Too often, they end up making choices that are counter to the hopes, the dreams they promised when campaigning.

Because the basic choice is this: They must choose each day whom they will serve: Will they serve the gods of special interest, the god of self-interest, the gods of political dogma, or … well, I was going to say “the voters," but it occurs to me that Obama, and the nation, would be better off if the interests of God were served first.

Joshua is talking to the people of Israel at Schechem, in what appears to be a convocation, presenting themselves before God. We only read part of it, but what Joshua does is go through a review of Israel’s past on the part of God. We know this because Joshua uses the phrase, “Thus says the Lord …” When we read that, we know serious business is ahead. And the serious business begins at Verse 14.

This is a serious choice.

This is not, “Do I have decaf or regular?”

This is not, “Do I want special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickle-onion-on-a-sesame-seed bun … or do I want them to hold the onion?”

This is not, “Do I want to watch Indiana Jones tonight, or do I want to watch a chick-flick??

This is not even, “Do I vote for Barack Obama, or do I vote for John McCain … or Chuck Baldwin … or Bob Bar … or Charles Jay … or Cynthia McKinney … or Brian Moore … or Ralph Nader … or maybe I should write in Pastor Buzz …”

We get consumed with choices … even the choice of what church we attend.

“Do I want the rituals of Episcopalian, or do I want the passionate worship of the Pentecostals?”

There’s this scene in C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” where the devil Screwtape happily discerns, “Now, this is an achievement. They’re busy all the time making choices about things that don’t matter. We’ve got them now. They’re terminally distracted.”

But this choice that Joshua sets before the people is not one of those choices … decisions that have no eternal consequence.

This is a choice about what god the people will serve.

He says, in effect, “The time has come for you to make up your mind about who you’re going to serve. Which way are you going to go? Are you going to the left, or to the right, or are you just going to get off of the highway all together?”

“Are you going to serve those worthless gods of those who came before you, or are you going to fear the one true God?

“Will you give yourself totally over to him in worship?

“Will you get rid of the gods that your ancestors handed down to you?

“Will you choose to worship God?

“Now, you may not want to, but you’ve to decide right here. Right now.

“This ain’t no time to play around.

“If you decide you can’t, that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you would rather serve — but do it today.

“Choose the god of your political party, or the god of the empire, or the god of self-interest.
“But as for me … as for my house, my family, we will worship Yaweh. We will worship God.”

Sisters and brothers, we all face that choice, of standing at the crossroads of faith and having to make the ultimate decision.

You’ve got to put something old down, in order to pick something new up.

There were a lot of nasty e-mails floating around ahead of the election.

One of those was that Barack Obama was Muslim.

There was a January interview with Christianity Today in which Obama addressed that particular rumor. Here is what he said:

“I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't ‘fall out in church’ as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.”

He will, indeed, face many choices in the coming four years.

And regardless of political affiliation, President-elect Barack Obama and our nation needs fervent, heartfelt prayer that the decisions made in regards to those choices will be made with God in mind.

“Choose this day whom you will serve,” because our decisions matter —particularly because we do not know the full impact of those decisions.

And so, in this morning’s text, the people of Israel rise up and say, “We will never turn away from God! Never! We’d never reject God for other things, for other gods! He’s our God!”

Then Joshua said, “Naw, you can’t do it. You don’t have it in you to worship God. He’s a holy God. He’s a jealous God. He won’t put up with your shenanigans. When you desert him for other things, for other gods, he’ll rub you out."

But the people were insistent: “No! No! We worship God!"

And so, Joshua relented: “OK, you are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship God. So be it.”

And they said, “We are witnesses. So be it."

And so, the decision was made.

But it didn’t last.

We read later that the people of Israel were not content with having God lead them, they demanded a king so they could “be like the nations.”

It appears the people weren’t content to live with their own choice; they wanted to rely on someone else’s choices.

In some manner or fashion, sometimes in ways we do not even recognize at the moment, we make decisions that reflect whether we have chosen to serve the Lord, or not serve the Lord.

We face the call of “choose this day whom you will serve.”

Joshua reminds us that we owe all that we are, all that we have, and all that we will be, to the God who brought us where we are today.

We must put away the many other gods that keep us from following the one true God.

We must cast aside decisions and choices that distract us from making decisions and choices that matter.

In the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids, found in Matthew 25, we read that five of the women chose not to take oil with them. They grew drowsy and fell asleep. When the bridegroom came, they were not ready.

They chose poorly.

In that same parable, five of the bridesmaids took oil in jars along with the lamps. They grew drowsy and fell asleep. But when the bridegroom came, they were read to come out and meet him.

They chose wisely.

We were given a few cups to choose from in this presidential election, and we pray that we have chosen wisely.

But that was not the greatest decision that we face.

The greatest decision that each of us faces is this:

“Whom will you serve?”

“Choose this day …”

None of us wants to come to the end of our days and, as with the five foolish bridesmaids, hear the Lord say, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”

Grace and peace ...

Gecko Judgment

2008-10-21T10:00:00.018-04:00

One thing you’ve got to say about Hollywood: It never misses a moment to capitalize on a current event -- even if that current event is the result of Americans paying the price of capitalism running amuck.

In September, we saw several large U.S.-based financial institutions fail, merge, and otherwise instill a lack of confidence. It wasn’t as if business journal prophets had not warned of these things to come, mostly pointing to sub-prime mortgage issues.

But they were like Old Testament prophets standing on the wall, shouting, “Woe! Woe! Woe!” Or, maybe it was “Whoah, Whoah, Whoah!” as in “Stop! Stop! Stop! You’re heading for a train wreck!”

But then, the train wreck came: Large financial institutions began to fall, and the wave rolled across the ocean, and moved around the world. Governments have now stepped in to help lay a little track, hoping to get the global economy back on track.

In the midst of all of this misery, Hollywood is moving forward on a sequel to the 1987 film, “Wall Street,” the 1987 film directed by Oliver Stone.

In that movie, Charlie Sheen plays an ambitious young stockbroker named Bud Fox. His idol is an unscrupulous corporate raider, played by Michael Douglas, whose character is given the unlikely name of Gordon Gekko.

Gekko is idolized by Bud Fox, whose father, Carl, is played by Martin Sheen. Carl is a maintenance worker at a small struggling airline, Bluestar. Bud gives Gekko some inside information on Bluestar that can make a stock trade profitable, while saving the company in the process. Gekko uses Bud to get more inside information, including concessions from the labor unions, and then decides to cannibalize the company -- selling off its assets and leaving the employees out of work.

The iconic line that Gekko offers in the film is this: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” (These days it's difficult to tell whether life imitates art, or whether art imitates life.)

It's beautifully ironic that the greedy bloodsucker in the film “Wall Street” is named “Gekko.” While spelled differently, a "gecko" is a lizard found in warm climates around the world. There are about 2,000 species worldwide, with some unique characeristics:

All but one of the species lacks eyelids.
As a defense mechanism, they expel a foul-smelling material and feces.
Some species change color to blend in with their environment.

Gecko is seems an appropriate mascot for the lizards of Wall Street.

"Greed," the Gecko says, "is good."

Chameleons that excrete foul-smelling substances.

I think Amos knew something about Geckos.

Amos was an 8th century layman prophet -- not one of those professional preachers -- from the southern kingdom of Judah. He was a sheep and fruit farmer of sorts who had the audacity to go into the northern kingdom of Israel and preach.

He starts out with a roar, proclaiming words of judgment against Israel's enemies for atrocities committed in war. You can just hear the crowds yelling, “Right on! Preach it brother! Don’t hold back! Let ’em have it with both barrels.”

But then, Amos turns to his own homeland, Judah, the southern kingdom, and proclaims God's judgment -- not because of war crimes, but because of idolatry and a failure to follow the Lord.

And he turns turns to Israel, the northern kingdom, citing crimes of violence -- not the violence of wars against nations, but violence against the poor:

"Thus says the LORD: 'For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals — those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same maiden, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.'” (Amos 2:6-8)

Amos is taking aim at the Geckos of Jerusalem, for systematically ripping off the poor.

Are not the Geckos of Wall Street doing the same today?

I wonder how God will judge us?

What we see today is that Gecko CEOS have left homebuyers, many of whom were led astray through suspect loan instruments, out on the street. Their hope for living the American Dream blinded their eyes to the fact that they simply could not afford that dream, and seeking it would actually lead them into a nightmare.

The Geckos have taken the sandals and cloaks of the poor and middle class to some golden temple of an offshore bank account, sitting on island sands while they drink!

In the Old Testament, God set His people apart to be salt and light for the world, not vinegar and bitter herbs.

I believe God had a similar plan for this nation.

Somewhere along the way, I believe we have forgotten the missio dei -- the mission of God -- given to USAmerica, or maybe we never fully embraced that mission to begin with.

Maybe, like Columbus, who considered himself God’s light-bearer of the Gospel to the New World, the prospect of getting rich got in our way.

I wonder how God will judge us?

Maybe He already is ...

Almighty God, in our desire for comfort and security, we often trample over others as we dash for the train that we believe will carry us to the American dream.

As we run for that train, O Lord, slow us down so that we might see others who have likewise fallen along the way.

Lead us through your Holy Spirit to not be afraid to reach down and lift someone else up ... even if it causes us to miss the train.

For in that way, we will become salt and light to your world.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Grace and peace ...

It's 5 o'clock somewhere ...

2008-09-21T14:28:00.005-04:00

Now, I’m not whining, but I’ve got to tell you, sisters and brothers, it’s been a tough week for me.

At The Daily Times, we had that 126-page section to get out because it was scheduled to run today. (As it turns out, it will be inserted into the Tuesday, Sept. 23, edition.)

We had a folder break on the press. A folder is a mechanism that trims the paper and folds the sections. What that means is we couldn’t run the press until it got fixed. So, one night, we had to have the paper printed in Sevierville.

I managed to escape the worst of that deal … but, people were still coming to me expecting answers.

And I did my best …

Then, we had Charge Conference at Green Meadow United Methodist Church — which, truth be told, was actually a high point in the week for me.

On Friday, I had to take a vacation day to move Elizabeth into an apartment in Johnson City — a second-floor apartment, mind you.

But we survived that, too.

In the midst of all of that, I was working on this message.

Now, as we say in the newsroom, the work flow for worship goes something like this:

Once I decide on the Scripture, I look for words and phrases to jump out a me as I seek to discern, “What’s the message, here?”

When that hits me, I think about the imagery.

I love this text, and have spoken about it before in the terms of “The 11^th Hour,” that being the time when the last workers were hired.

So, I did this quick image and was pretty much satisfied … that is, until the obvious hit me: The 11^th hour was not 11 o’clock in the text, it was 5 o’clock, for that was the 11^th hour in the Jewish custom and culture.

So, I reworked the image to look like this.

Well, that didn’t set right with me either, to have “the 11^th hour” and the hands being on the 5 o’clock hour.”

By then, it was about the 11^th hour for me — that being 11 or 11:30 p.m. — and I was getting a bit exasperated, so I just went to bed.

As I lay there with the text running through my head, the title of an Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet song hit me and I turned to Donna and said, “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere.”

If you're not familiar with the song, go to YouTube.

The lyrics go something like this:

The sun is hot and that ol' clock is movin' slow

And so am I

Workday passes like molassas in wintertime

But it's July

Gettin' paid by the hour and older by the minute

My boss just pushed me over the limit

I'd like to call him somethin'

But think I'll just call it a day

Pour me somethin' tall and strong

Make it a hurricane before I go insane

It's only half past twelve, but I don't care

It's five o'clock somewhere

Now, as you can tell, that’s pretty much a drinkin’ song.

But I’m not promoting alcohol, here.

Even though I don’t think having a glass of wine, or a beer, or whatever beverage you prefer, is a sin for most people.

I don’t drink anymore. As they say in the hills of Upper East Tennessee, I was once “bad to drink.”

So, in my case, it would be a sin, because I know where God brought me from, and I know where that one glass would eventually lead.

I never drank one of anything in my life.

I’m sort of like another country and western song -- which I could have written but Blake Shelton beat me to it -- that says, “The More I Drink, the More I Drink.”

So, I just don’t … drink, that is.

But there’s something about that song — “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere” — that appeals to me that is outside of the obvious alcohol references.

Hang with me, now.

Today’s text, Matthew 20:1-16, is sometimes referred to as The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

This is a story about God's radical grace, where everyone will receive the same reward. In the vineyard, first equals last, last equals first.

The story goes that there was once a great debate in heaven as to who was the greatest monument of God's grace.

The stories were told, one after another, as those who had been redeemed described in lurid detail the sin from which Christ had delivered them.

The competition was tough, but one old fellow seemed to be winning out. There didn’t seem to be a sin that this old guy hadn’t committed. And then he related how he came to Christ on his deathbed.

But then a woman stepped up and told of how she had come to Christ as a child and had followed him all the days of her life.

When the vote was taken, it was not one who had lifted up from the miry pit who was seen as the greatest testimony to grace, but the woman who had walked with Christ all of her days.

That’s a pretty good story.

But what’s the problem here?

It doesn't match what Jesus says in Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

But that’s the way we view the gift of grace.

But the reality of Scripture is this: The economy of God’s grace says what?

First equals last; last equals first.

In the Kingdom of God, everyone receives the same reward regardless of how much work they have done.

Thank God in the upside down economy of God's grace that “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere" and the reward is the same.

Somewhere, perhaps even as you read this, there is likely someone who is coming to Christ in his or her last hour. In so doing, they’re going to get the same measure of grace, the same reward, as the person who walked with Christ all of their days.

Look at your watch, it says ____.

But it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and that believer will arrive at the same destination as the rest of us believers.

But we never know the hour we will depart.

Know that whether you are in the third hour, the sixth hour, or the 11^th hour, the same blood of Christ covers your sins.

But consider this: You may be in the latter hour … the 11^th hour … do not let it quickly pass you by.

You’re standing in the marketplace and the master is calling to you: "Why are you standing here all day long? Go, and work in my vineyard."

Grace and peace ...

David Crowder and pick-up sticks ...

2008-07-17T09:07:00.004-04:00

I'm on a lot of e-mail lists. How I got on some of them is beyond me. Fortunately, I do not get a lot of what I would call spam as a result of being on those lists. Call it God's cybergrace.

Today I got an e-mail from Catalyst, which appears to be some sort of Christian media site. The e-mail included a link to a column written by David Crowder, whom I interviewed in 2006. He's a pretty sharp guy, I might add. He took the conversation in a way that had me off-balance.

In the column, Crowder notes that he and his wife live in an economically depressed part of Waco, Texas. That in itself is interesting, given that he probably makes oodles of money from record sales. Few Christian music"stars" (feels funny even writing that) truly find a way to identify with the least, the last and the lost. But what's also interesting about this column is that it concerns a conversation he had with the homeless guy who drops by to pick up sticks in David's yard, hoping to earn a few bucks along the way.

Check it out.

Grace and peace ...

Media in worship at The Meadow

2008-07-02T07:56:00.015-04:00

Those who worship at The Meadow on Sunday mornings know that digital media is part of the liturgy used in our experience. The visual mediums could be still imagery, video imagery, or a mixture of the two.

More often than not, the experience starts with Scripture and a theme, such as with "Kudzu Christianity: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." The text was Isaiah 5:1-7, a portion of "The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard." Many summers we travel south to Florida for a week's vacation. Along the way there are untold acres of kudzu. We see it around East Tennessee. For the most part, it is an unfruitful vine, but some creative Southerners have uncovered various ways of making it fruitful. Thus the image of kudzu ...

There are times when still imagery is just not enough. Maybe it's a song that comes into my head and I begin to think of that song in a spiritual context. It could be a contemporary Christian song, a rock song, or even country music. While I have my favorites, there are very few genres that I can not appreciate in some way.

I have not yet purchased a digital video camera and analog-to-video is too cumbersome and time-consuming for me. So, many of my self-created videos are still imagery set to music. I began doing this with PowerPoint and a script in 1996. Today, given that I have not yet been able to afford a Mac, I use Windows Movie Maker.

Following a tornadic rampage earlier this year that killed nearly 60, I was struck by the stories of survival and created a video for worship, using news images and the music of Casting Crowns, "Praise You In The Storm." I would show it here, but there is the possibility of copyright infringement since this is not "a house of worship or other religious assembly." A good reference for what is allowed under the Copyright Law of 1976 is "Handbook for Multisensory Worship" (c 1999 Ginghamsburg Church). Which begs the question: How do those folks on YouTube get away with all of those copyrighted images floating across their pages?

As a bivocational pastor, it is difficult to create the experience that you pray will help people experience God. There is the issue of time, but there is also the issue of resources -- particularly if you are serving a small church, such as The Meadow, where resources are scarce. Large churches often have teams of people who are either paid staff or are drawn from a large pool of engineers. In a small church, neither of those resources exist to a great degree -- that is, money for staff and a large pool of volunteers. Because of that, I long ago decided to draw upon a number of resources so that we in The Meadow can fully experience God's revealing Word:

It starts with The Word

Sometimes I use the Lectionary, which allows me to use a variety of worship planning resources, such as the United Methodist Church's General Board of Discipleship worship site, TextWeek, and Desperate Preacher, and ESermons, the latter of which is a paid subscription site. (I chose that one to subscribe to because Len Sweet, one of my favorite contemporary theologians, has material on that site. My congregation would readily recognize his name, as well as Brian McLaren, Henri Nouwen and Rob Bell.)

Sometimes God leads me to another Scripture, in which case I search for a theme or metaphor within the text. Slowly reading and looking for words and phrases that jump off the page and into my spirit. I then look to commentaries, such as those within the New Interpreter's Bible, "The New Daily Study Bible" series, or other commentaries.

Then, there are times when something I am reading will strike a chord. That is what happened with Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz." I was reading that book in the summer of 2005 and one chapter led me to create a worship experience entitled "Christian Belief is Like Penguin Sex." It was around the same time that "March of the Penguins" debuted, which certainly made it timely. It also provided much needed imagery, thanks to marketing materials. (Again, I would show the imagery here, but there is that copyright law ...

Movies and music also draw me to certain themes. The no-brainer movie theme of the past few years has been the "Chronicles of Narnia" series. I have yet to see the "Prince Caspian" release, but like many pastors I built a series of worship experiences on the former movie. The not-so-obvious movie that I built a message upon was "The Shawshank Redemption." It was a great study of hope during Advent one year. Music has spawned a number of ideas, with songs like Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin'" and Brooks and Dunn's "Red Dirt Road."

In short, I believe God is open to creative liturgy and uses a great deal of pop culture to get his message across.

I'll close with a few suggested resources for visual liturgy:

Sermon Spice: www.sermonspice.com
Lumicon: www.lumicon.com
The work of the People: www.twop.
Jonny Baker Blog: jonnybaker.blogs.com

Grace and peace ...

Out of the miry clay ...

2008-06-21T07:50:00.003-04:00

“You show me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Psalm 16:11

In summer 1985, Donna gave birth to Elizabeth and David was almost 3½ years old. Just months before, God put me on the path of salvation. As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 40:2, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

God had taken me out of the “miry clay.” He showed me the path of life, and in God’s presence I found “fullness of joy.”

The Newsboys’ “Devotion” comes to mind:

“You found me
in a shallow grave
You dragged (called) me out from beneath it all
You healed (touched) me
saved me
in the nick of time
Your perfect time”

As I have found, walking with God for more than two decades now, there is more pleasure in walking with God than all that Babylon has to offer.

And no eye has seen the pleasures that God has for us in the world beyond.

Grace and peace ...

Holy Conferencing and a confession ...

2008-06-10T10:52:00.025-04:00

The Rev. Randy Frye talks to Holston's United Methodists
about Holy Conferencing in Tuesday morning's session at Lake Junaluska.

The Holy Spirit is moving during this annual conference of Holston's United Methodists at Lake Junaluska, N.C., and it could be that we don't know quite what to do with this movement. The reason: It's not moving in the way that we would normally expect.

It's not because of the music.

It's not due to the preaching.

The Holy Spirit is moving through an introduction to "Holy Conferencing," and the arrival of God's Spirit in this manner is not something we are used to greeting; in fact, that is quite the point: We -- or, at least, I -- have not been hospitable to the Spirit of God in this matter.

The Rev. Randy Frye just finished a moving presentation on "Working Together in the United Methodist Way," in which he asked, "How do diverse people, worshipping one Lord, navigate through our differences in order to fulfill one singular mission ... to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world?" Frye suggested the following guidelines in calling us to practice Holy Conferencing:

Every person is a child of God.
As you patiently listen and observe the behavior of others, be open to the possiblity that God can change the views of any or all parties in the discuss. (And that means me, too.)
Listen patiently before formulating responses.
Strive to understand the experience out of which others have arrived at their views.
Be careful in how you express personal offense at differing opinions. Otherwise, dialogue may be inhibited.
Accurately reflect the views of others when speaking. This is especially important when you disagree with that position.
Avoid using inflammatory words, derogatory names, or an excited and angry voice.
Avoid making generalizations about individuals and groups.
Make use of facilitators and mediators.
Remember that people are defined, ultimately by their relationship with God ... not by the flaws we discover, or think we discover, in their views and actions.

As I listened to Randy, "my heart was strangely warmed." Yet, I also was convicted in that I am aware of the many times I have not practiced Holy Conferencing. I have:

Failed to treat every person as a child of God.
Stood firm on what I perceived to be biblical ground, not realizing that the propositions I claimed as truth may not be truth at all, but merely the opinions of man concerning God's Truth.
Failed to listen patiently before formulating opinions. Too often when appearing to listen to someone, or even when reading another person's words, I have found myself thinking, "Oh, they're coming from (whatever) point of view ..." The first time I became fully aware of such a practice was when reading Brian McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy." For the first time in my recollection, when I found myself heading down that path I would put the book down until I got over that train of thought.
Failed to consider another person's experience through which their views were formed.
Neglected to be careful of my words when reacting to someone else's opinion.
Intentionally or inadvertently "spun" someone else's views to buttress my own position.
Used inflammatory, or at least highly charged, words and emotions to drive home a point.
Made generalizations concerning individuals and groups.
Forgotten, or ignored the fact, that people are ultimately defined by their relationship with God.

Forgive me, O God, for my careless and hurtful words.

Forgive me for not accurately and fully presenting Christ to the world. Allow me to rise with newness of heart, and newness of Spirit, fully open to the move of your Holy Spirit as I offer Christ to the world. This is my confession, and I repent of the way I have hurt others and damaged the reputation of Christ and His Church in the world.

Thank you, O God, for your grace .

Amen.

Be in prayer for Steven Curtis Chapman family ...

2008-05-22T07:26:00.004-04:00

The Steven Curtis Chapman family has suffered a great tragedy: Five-year-old Maria Sue was struck and killed by sport utility vehicle driven by her teenage brother.

I've interviewed Steven Curtis and ask that you join in compassionate prayer for this family that has extended so much compassion to others.

StevenCurtisChapman.com opens this morning with a release concerning the accident.
The Tennessean.com is carrying an extensive story and has a picture of Steven Curtis and Maria.

A quote from John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association, expresses things well:

“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.

“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”

May the God of grace and peace comfort this family ...

A prayer for the Church ...

2008-05-04T21:56:00.002-04:00

O God,

In these days before the celebration of Pentecost, we pray that your Holy Spirit would fall fresh upon your Church, breaking the spirit of Nominal Christianity.

Lord, some of us have just enough religion to keep us from being true followers of you. Let your Holy Spirit fall upon us.

Some of us want to be with you eternally just enough to make us feel safe. Lord, Let your Holy Spirit fall upon us.

Some of us care just enough for the least, the last, and the lost, just enough to appear pious and righteous before our friends. Let your Holy Spirit fall upon us.

We're tired of playing church, O God.

We're tired of a weak faith, O God.

Send your Spirit down upon us, shattering the spirit of Nominal Christianity once and for all.

In the Name above all names, Jesus Christ, amen and amen.

Living stones

2008-04-19T22:47:00.005-04:00

One of the disciplines I explored in college — I know, for someone as undisciplined as I was, that’s a strange way to put it — but one of the disciplines I explored was geology.

I chose that field for my science credits because, in high school, I always did better with earth sciences than biology … that and because I thought it cool in the ’70s to say that I enjoyed studying rock.

But rocks have always fascinated me.

I love to look at the mica found in Tennessee waterways.

Feldspar, or field rock, adds beauty to any landscape … earthen tones springing through fields of green.

River rock brings a reminder that God’s Creation will still be molding and moving things long after we are gone from this world.

Outcroppings, such as the Blowing Rock in North Carolina and the weather worn and time-chiseled features of Grandfather Mountain, are another fascination for me. Again, they remind me that God's Creation is constantly being molded into things of beauty.

In Peter's first letter we are urged, "Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5) As "living stones," we are constantly being formed into the likeness of Christ, and are thus being used to build God's Kingdom.

Michael Card weaves it this way in song ("Living Stones"):

“Living stones, living stones

We are holy, living stones

Built upon the firm foundation

That is Jesus

And as we cling to that Rock

Who became a Stumbling Block

We remember we are living stones.”

"Come to him, a living stone ..."

Grace and peace ...

The Elvis Cup and 'Hotel California'

2008-02-27T10:11:00.010-05:00

I’m not the pop culture aficionado I was a few decades ago. Despite my vocation as a journalist, I sometimes get lost in the blur of names and faces that roll past the screen.

Maybe it’s age.

But I surfed over to on People magazine’s Web site a little more than a week ago and here were just a few of the headlines: “Angelina and Brad’s adoption of Pax Finalized,” “Hepatitis Scare Hits Ashton, Demi and Madonna,” and “Johnny Knoxville Recovering from Motorcycle Injury.”

You could surf over to about another half-dozen or more related stories on Angelina Jolie, and even get a glimpse of “Brad & Angelina’s Date Night.”

We obviously can’t get enough of celebrities — particularly, I suppose, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; however, we’re now into celebrity offspring.

A couple of years ago, we couldn’t get enough of Shiloh Jolie, when People magazine paid $4 million for the U.S. rights alone to shoot pictures of the baby. Within the past month, Christina Aguilera debuted her newborn son, Max, on the cover of People for a reported $1.5 million. Not to be outdone, it was recently reported that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony were negotiating a $6 million deal for exclusive photos of their twins.

Danielle Friedland, who runs Celebrity Baby Blog, said the craving for celebrity news is fueled by the tabloid media.

“Celebrities always have children ... it's just that we're paying so much more attention to them right now,” Friedland told The Associated Press. “The more that we see of them, the more we want.”

But why blame the tabloid media? We’re the ones who can’t get enough of this stuff.

Celebrities have been turned into little gods on big screens, and now we are worshipping the children of little gods.

We live in a culture of celebrity worship, but it apparently doesn’t take a whole lot to achieve the status of celebrity. The late social historian Daniel Boorstin, who died in 2004, wrote, “Anyone can become a celebrity if only he can get into the news and stay there.”

And that is what many of them do best: They get in the news, and stay there, and we glorify them all the more … sometimes, even after death.

Refusing to let a celebrity die in peace, the culture of celebrity worship creates conspiracy theories surrounding their deaths to keep them alive. Urban legends abound maintaining that Elvis is not really dead, nor is Jim Morrison of The Doors. We assign these celebrities the status of immortality, for it is difficult to let little gods die.

Len Sweet tells about the vial of “Elvis water” that sold on E-bay for $455 a couple of years ago. The water was the property of Wade Jones of Belmont, N.C., who said a police officer gave him a Styrofoam cup as a souvenir after a 1977 show by Presley in Charlotte. Inside the cup were a few sips of water. Jones writes on his eBay posting that after he got home he put Saran Wrap over the cup, put a rubber band around it, and placed it in a freezer. He auctioned off the remaining three tablespoons of water for $455.

Later, Jones auctioned off a one-time appearance by the cup, which was won by Nutballz, a company that makes food products free of wheat or refined sugar and who used the appearance as a benefit fund-raiser. The Elvis cup was in the house for all to bow down and worship.

Celebrity worship is detrimental to our own spirits, for only God is worthy of our worship. Celebrity worship is also detrimental to the object of our affections. Look at what happened to Elvis, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Look at what’s happening to Britney Spears.

When mere human beings made only in the likeness of God are set up as objects of worships — as little gods — it’s no wonder so many of them end up living, and dying, as classic tragedies.

And look at the lives we are setting up for the children of these little gods. We pay $6 million just to see their images. Surely there is the temptation for them to later view themselves as little gods.

The year I started college at ETSU, The Eagles released the album “Hotel California.” There was an incredible amount of urban legend surrounding that album. There were rumors that the title cut was about a Christian church that was abandoned in 1969 and taken over by an occultic group. There were even rumors that The Eagles were Satan worshippers and that the image of the Satanic High Priest Anton LeVey could be seen in one of the windows of the building on the cover.

My wife gave me The Eagles’ double-CD set for Valentine’s Day. In the liner notes, Glenn Frye had this to say about “Hotel California”:

“ … we did not start out to make any sort of concept or theme album. But when we wrote ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ and started working on ‘Hotel California’ and ‘New Kid in Town’ … we knew we were heading down a long and twisted corridor and just stayed with it. Songs from the dark side — the Eagles take a look at the seamy underbelly of L.A. — the flip side of fame and failure, love and money.”

These lyrics point to the flip side of celebrity worship:

“Last thing I remember, I was running for the door/I had to find the passage back to the place I was before/‘Releax,’ said the night man, ‘We are programmed to receive. ‘You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!’”

Once you see yourself as a little god, once a culture has placed you in the residence of worship, it must be difficult — if not impossible — to check out of that hotel, to live a normal life, to see yourself once again as a child of God. As believers in the one true God, let’s open the door and set the idols free.

Let’s evict them from Hotel California.

A few brief thoughts and images from Divine Rhythm's first night of worship

2008-01-25T23:34:00.000-05:00

You got a sense that the Spirit was right at Country Tonite Theater when gremlins got into the video booth and patience won the night.

"They want me to tell a joke," emcee Mark Wills said, adding that it's difficult to come up with a joke on the spur of the moment.

It was obvious to the crowd that the pastor from Carters Chapel United Methodist Church in Greeneville was struggling, so someone lobbed a joke from the seats.

"What does a fish with no eyes sound like?"

After a slight hesitation, the answer came from what sounded like scores of voices:
"Fssssshhhhh ...."

Divine Rhythm was under way.

The Michael Gungor Band came out of the gate charging with some edgy originals. Beforfe the set was over, the gathering had moved into a time of solid worship, mixing standards such as "Here I Am to Worship" and "We Fall Down," with inspiring originals.

I look forward to hearing those songs again.

Shane Claiborne told bits and pieces of his story that likely left those just now getting to know him wanting more.

I'm certain they will get it.

Grace and peace ...

Missed calls ...

2008-01-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

Those of us who live in the world of cellular phones know the meaning of the words "Missed Calls."

You pick up your phone, see the words "Missed Calls" and immediately understand that someone has tried to reach you and you weren't available.

I wonder how many times God has called and we were either not available, or merely chose to ignore the call altogether.

For the past few years, the week after Christmas has been a time to retreat and relax after the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas dash. For the most part, I was able to accomplish that this year.

I retreated into the mountains of Upper East Tennessee and spent some time in contemplation, as well as using it as a time to just "be" with my family.

We ate. We talked. We ate. We talked. We ate ...

At some point in our sharing of stories from days gone by, my mom said, "You came home one day and told me you were going to be a preacher."

That was news to my memory and so I probed her, asking, "When was that?"

"It was when you were going to church with Uncle Russell."

That would have been 1969 or so, when I was baptized.

An older gentleman who knew my Uncle Russell had been picking me up on Sunday mornings and taking me to Hatcher Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. I stayed connected to the church for about year after that, I suppose.

I don't specifically recall saying, "I'm going to be a preacher," but I have no doubt her memory is clear on the matter.

I now wonder whether that was a missed call.

Off and on in my life, there had been this sense of calling, even though I likely would have never used that word to describe the impression that is, at least not until my "heart was strangely warmed" at the age of 29.

I have this theory about the large number of baby boomers entering the ministry later in life: We allowed the noise of the 1960s and '70s to drown out God -- either never hearing the call in the first place, or allowing it to fade into the distance.

Some of us might even seek to fulfill that sense of calling through other endeavors, not even considering the possibility that the drive within our spirit is a movement of God.

Twenty-twenty spiritual hindsight being what it is, it's theologically reasonable that I would have felt a move of the Holy Spirit following my baptism.

Those of us who get into such things know that this past Sunday was "Baptism of the Lord" Sunday on the church calendar.

We read the story of Jesus' baptism and understand his calling, because we know the story: John baptizes Jesus; the Father says, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

The call came and Jesus responded.

He gave up his home and consecrated his life to the mission of God's Only Son.

It was a dangerous mission.

He took up the call of the cross, which he carried all his life and on which he eventually died. He became a homeless man.

Those of who have been baptized in the Christian tradition identify with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The grace that baptism makes available is the atonement of Christ -- we are "at one" with God.

Baptism involves our own dying to sin, newness of life, union with Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit, and incorporation into Christ's Church.

As I look back on my own baptism, it was far too easy to conform to the world and not allow myself to be transformed by the Spirit of God. It was some 15 or 16 years later that I allowed God to transform my life, eventually leading to the acceptance of his call.

When we truly allow the Spirit of God to move in our life, the sacrament of Baptism transforms our lives and we think, speak, live, and act in ways that "re-present" the image of Christ to the world.

But there is a part of baptism that is the calling. We receive the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit endows us with gifts that are to be used in the service of God.

As baptized believers, we are called by God.

God has a claim on our lives.

The work that many of us call "ministry" is a response to that call, and that claim, that God has on our lives.

If we can not point to such a work, then we have missed the call.

As I said, I was baptized at the age of about 13; but I believe my true acceptance of grace came at the age of 29 in 1985.

It was Christmas 1990 or so that my niece, Wendy, looked at me and said, "Uncle Buzzy, I think you would make a good missionary or preacher, or something."

I was a bit taken aback, but said, "Well, Wendy, I think if God wants me to do something like that he¹ll let me know.²

In that sweet, little Virginian voice she said, "Well, maybe he is ..."

I let it pass, not giving it a great deal of thought.

About three or four years later, I was asked to speak to the "Liars Club," a group of older men from Middlebrook Pike United Methodist Church who met weekly at the West Town Mall Chik-fil-A.

Afterward, one of the older gents said, "You know, you'd probably make a pretty good preacher. You ever think of that?"

I was taken aback, but said, "Well, sir, I think if God wants me to do something like that he'll let me know."

The old saint said, "Well, maybe he is ..."

It was still five or six years before I gave in. But in 2001, I finally decided to run with it, rather than run from it. In religious-speak, I tried to "let go and let God."

My question today is this: What is God calling you to do this year, or even with the rest of your life?

Discover what it is, and then run with it -- don't run away from it. Believe me, if my experience is the norm, you will not be complete until you do so.

And what is God calling this community of faith in The Meadow to do next?

God declares through the prophet Isaiah, "See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare ..."

In the days of Isaiah, the new thing is the new exodus out of Babylon.

In the days of John the Bapitst, the new thing is the new exodus inaugurated with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

I sense that God is calling us to a new thing.

What is this new thing?

May we seek it together, may we discover it, and may we run with it.

To the glory of God!

Grace and peace ...

Wanted: Authentic disciples of Christ

2008-01-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I pulled out my stamp collection, which I started in college.

I love stamp stories, which is why in 1984 I read a book called "Nassau Street," by the internationally known Herman Herst Jr. Nassau Street was the center of philately in the 1930s, when Herst set up shop there.

One day after reading this book, I was wandering through a stamp and coin shop in Beaumont, Texas, when something on a sales stand caught my eye. It was a hand-painted auction card with a block of four stamps attached, with the card carrying Herst's signature. The auction card noted that the stamps, which commemorated the Byrd Expedition, had once been part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's collection and had been presented to him in 1933 by Postmaster General Farley. The stamps were part of the president's collection, which was sold at auction by order of his Estate in February 1946. The card notes, "Of the above item, which is Number 1RA, only one are guaranteed to exist."

Like most philatelists, I knew that FDR was an avid stamp collector and that Farley created intentional errors for the president and his friends. I didn't know whether this was one of those errors; however, one thing I was sure of was this: This was philatelic history right before my eyes -- and I had to have it. The cost was $50, at a time when we really didn't have $50.

But my wife bought it for me for Valentine's Day.

Within a week, I penned what would be the first of two letters to Herst, the first of which found its way to the auctioneer's home in Boca Raton, Fla. In his return note, he mildly chastised me for not sending a self-addressed stamp envelope, then shared some information with me. I sent him a second letter, to which he replied in friendly tone, again offering more information on this block of stamps.

I submitted the stamps to the American Philatelic Society for authentication, because I could not find them in the Scott's stamp catalog.

The certifier confirmed what Herst shared with me: I would not find them in the catalog, because the sheet of 200 stamps was printed specifically for Roosevelt. They are indistinguishable from single copies of other Byrd Exhibition stamps, and Herst explains that is "why I did sign each one and number them."

This is provenance.

These are the identifying marks.

I have all of that information in my collection: The auction card, the letters from Herst, the American Philatelic Society's certification, and the original receipt. In the collecting world, those items are called "provenance" -- records or documents authenticating an object, or the history of ownership.

In Saint Matthew¹s biography of Jesus, we learn of a time when John the Baptist was in prison and his disciples come to Jesus. The lone prophet who had been crying in the wilderness is now caged. He's waiting, and likely wondering about things. Jesus isn't measuring up to the picture that the baptizer had painted for the coming messiah. Perhaps John was asking himself, and his disciples, "Is this the Christ? Do we have to look for another? Should we keep searching?"

And so, John's disciples come and ask Jesus, in effect, "Are you the one? Are you the authentic Messiah? Or are you just another counterfeit on the market?"

Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on: 'The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.'" (The Message)

Jesus knows that John¹s disciples understand that he is pointing back to the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus is using the prophecies of Isaiah as the provenance that details the authenticity of his messiahship. Isaiah wrote, "God is here, right here, on his way to put things right. Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, Lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song."

Jesus was doing these things -- and he is still doing these things.

Isaiah's writings, though meant for a particular time and place, became the provenance for the authenticity of Jesus as the Christ.

Many of us who are part of the Christian tradition are engaged in a variety of things that bear little of the signature of authentic Christ followers. If we look at the provenance of Christ, what would be that signature? The hungry will be fed; widows and orphans cared for; sinners will come to know Christ; and the people will live justly, do mercy, and walk humbly with their God. There will be healing in their midst.

An authentic Christian bears the authentic marks of a life like Christ; likewise with authentic Christian communities. It is only through such provenance that the world will accept the message.

Above all others, Christian communities should be the ones who show:

He is the One. We do not need to keep searching for another.

The blind see.

The deaf hear.

The lame walk.

The voiceless have a voice.

Grace and peace ...

Of Thomas Merton and Life as a Beginner in Prayer

2007-12-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

It's a cold, rainy day here at Ripshin.

I have spent most of the morning finishing Brennan Manning's "The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus," a text for what has become something of a retreat for me during this season of Joy. I believe it would be a good text for group study at The Meadow and have considered leading it during Sunday School. I will speak with Glenda about that possibility.

I had planned some outdoor activity today, but the cold rain has kept me indoors. Having finished the Manning text, I then moved on to a brief devotion by Thomas Merton, which amounted to excerpts from "Contemplative Prayer." I am impressed by the simplicity of his thoughts on such prayer, as well as how relevant they seem to my own experience.

The excerpt I read is from a book I purchased while at Fairhaven Ministries last Christmas season, "Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups," edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith (1993 HarperSanFrancisco). I highly recommend this devotional resource.

In the reading, Merton warns against seeking some magical method, but encourages an "attitude," an "outlook" -- faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust and joy. "All these finally permeate our being with love in so far as our living faith tells us we are in the presence of God, that we live in Christ, that in the Spirit of God we 'see' God our Father without 'seeing.'"

He acknowledges that there is hardship in prayer and that we may find meditation difficult; however, we should not rely on feelings. Merton offers an insightful explanation: The movement of meditation is one of "paschal" rhythm whereby we move from death to life in Christ. In prayer, the "death" is a descent into "our own nothingness, a recognition of helplessness, frustration, infidelity, confusion, ignorance."

There was much more to this excerpt, but I will offer this last additional insight, one that speaks directly to me: "One cannot begin to face the real difficulties of the life of prayer and meditation unless one is first perfectly content to be a beginner and really experience himself as one who knows little or nothing and has a desperate need to learn the bare rudiments. ...

"We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners."

As 2007 draws to a close, here's to seeing myself as a beginner in the school of praying in and with the Spirit.

Grace and peace ...

Advent ...

2007-12-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

I have always been fascinated with UFOs, likely due to a massive number of hours spent watching “The Twilight Zone,” “The Outer Limits” and other such shows as a youngster.

I had a pretty good imagination about such things and can even recall running home and telling my parents I had seen a flying saucer in broad daylight.

It was probably a weather balloon.

I have lots of memories associated with looking into the sky.

There’s this memory of my sister, Sheree, pointing into the night sky from a window at my grandparents’ house, explaining the word “satellite” to me. Was she explaining the moon as a satellite, or something NASA sent into space? My memory is not that good …

But there are also some pretty strange memories of seeing things in the sky that were neither UFOs, nor satellites.

The year was 1968 and my mother, her second husband, Jim, my sister Sheree and I were camping on Cocoa Beach near Cape Canaveral Pier.

Calling it camping was something of a stretch, since all we had was a car and blankets.

And it was probably less out of a sense of adventure than it was not having money for a motel room, but still wanting to be at the beach.

Sometime during the night we could see an orange glow on the ocean’s horizon. The glow was slowly growing larger … it may have been minutes … it may have been an hour … and we were mesmerized.

“What is it?” Sheree and I asked.

We were getting scared and feared some apocalyptic event was at hand, even asking each other, “Is the world coming to an end?”

Jim and my mother seemed baffled as well.

We watched people strolling along the beach and it seemed they were unaware of this fantastic sight, paying no attention whatsoever. The strollers’ indifference to the obvious made it even more ‘Twilight-Zonish.’

It seemed an eternity before we realized the glow was simply the rising of a harvest moon.

We felt quite foolish.

I still look to the sky in expectation.

Perhaps it’s because I never know what I’ll see.

It was Christmas Eve 1975 that I saw the most awesome cosmic event in my life to date.

I was stationed with the training squadron VA-174 at Cecil Field, Florida, and had been assigned line watch that night.

The watch zones were configured in intersecting circles so that three or four of us would meet up every once in a while. We would chat for several minutes and then continue on walking the watch perimeter.
It was sometime early Christmas morning when one of us pointed to the star-studded sky, asking, “What in the world is that?”

We all looked in the same direction to see a fiery object moving quickly toward us — and the airfield — on what appeared to be slightly less than a 45-degree angle.

It was growing larger and larger, coming closer and closer, until it appeared it was going to crash onto the flight line.

The watchmen scattered away from the flight line — that is, all except for me.

Like the orange glow on the horizon at Cocoa Beach, I stood mesmerized and watched the fiery ball flatten like a beam in a laser light show. It appeared to somehow bounce off of some unseen shield, streaking away in the opposite direction.

The sky was filled with falling stars for quite some time.

All I could say was, “Wow …”

There was a brief in a newspaper a day or two later that noted others had seen the same sight.

It reminds me of a song by Larry Norman, the grandfather of modern Christian rock. It’s called “U.F.O.”:

“He’s an unidentified flying object.
You will see Him in the air.
He’s an unidentified flying object.
You will drop your hands and stare.
You will be afraid to tell your neighbor.
He might think that it’s not true.
But when they open up the morning paper.
You will know they’ve seen Him too.”

We are ending the first of four weeks of Advent, the name for which is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” During this season, we celebrate the coming of Christ — his birth, his continual coming in Word and Spirit, and whose final coming in victory we anticipate.

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

The Spirit within me watches for his “coming” in many ways — the faces of the congregation as they lift someone in prayer, the actions of those engaged in social justice, the glow on the face of a newly baptized believer, and the sharing of the bread and cup during Holy Communion. There are many other “comings” as well, and I watch for his coming in unexpected places … including the sky.

What about you?

Grace and peace ...

'Another Sunday Morning Comin' Down'

2007-11-22T17:23:00.000-05:00

Some years ago, I had the idea for a worship service that centered on Christ, but used popular country music. My friend Randy Atchley and I were talking about the various songs that had Christian themes.

"What about 'Sunday Morning Comin' Down?" I asked him.

"Do you remember the words to that song?" he replied, somewhat startled.

"Not really ..."

He suggested they might not be appropriate in worship. Still, some time later, Donna and I were traveling to Ripshin when the song came on the radio. I turned it up, and after listening decided that it would, after all, preach. Sure it talks about getting stoned, and drinking, but it points to the loneliness of a life without community and Christ.

This Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, I will be asking the question, for whom do the church bells toll?

Here's the chorus from that Kris Kristofferson classic, "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," which Johnny Cash drove to a No. 1 spot. It has been listed as No. 43 on the Top 100 Country Hits of All-Time":

"In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs they were singin'
Then I headed down the street
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'
And it echoed thru the canyon
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday."

Grace and peace ...

"Christ Follower vs. Christian"

2007-10-16T21:44:00.000-04:00

This is really too good to even need further comment.

Check out more "Christ Follower vs. Christian" videos.

Grace and peace ...

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"

2007-10-13T16:07:00.000-04:00

I watched "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" last night and it brought back some memories.

It was winter of 1973 and Pa had passed along his copy of Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." I was captivated -- and angered -- by its account of atrocities and other mistreatments committed against the Native Americans. He also gave me a book about Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.

As bothered as I was by the accounts, I'm now wondering if I did not also harbor a sense of betrayal by my history teachers. After all, I spent a good many years in the Virginia school systems, where knowledge of Commonwealth history was almost a religion. You learned Virginia history first, and then moved on to U.S. history where you learned about all of those people who were not fortunate enough to be Virginians. It's a cliche, but most true Virginians believe they are "American by birth; Virginian by the grace of God."

In Virginia history, we learned about the "real" first Thanksgiving -- "Suh, ours was held at Berkeley Plantation exactly one year and 17 days before the Pilgrims even set foot in that nawthun colony of Massachusetts." We also learned about the Mattaponi, Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Pamunkey and Rappahannock tribes, but it was always with a sense of romanticism.

In U.S. history, we learned about a lot of things, but I don't recall hearing about the Trail of Tears or Wounded Knee until after the publishing of Brown's book.

So it was that in February 1973, when Pa and I heard about the American Indian Movement and the Lakota Nation's siege at Wounded Knee, we felt the siege was justified. We partly teased about ... well, uh, sending some assistance, so to speak.

Why is this recollection on my pastor's blog?

Because that year, my history teacher was also a pastor and it was my first such encounter with this particular denomination (both will remain unnamed). I liked him, but also considered him somewhat misguided. Like most 16-year-olds, I thought a lot of adults were misguided.

But it's strange to me that I only recall two conversations with the gentleman.

One occurred on a day when I was being held after school in his classroom. (I don't recall why, but I'm certain it was for a good reason. At the time, I'm also certain to have believed that reason to be misguided ...)

"Mr. Trexler (all of my teachers either called me Mr. Trexler, or Frank, never Buzz), where do you attend church?" he asked.

"I don't go to church," I replied.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to be in a room full of hypocrites," I said, likely a bit puffed up.

The only other conversation I recall was during class, and if memory serves me correctly it was either during or after the February 1973 siege at Wounded Knee.

There is this scene in my mind's eye where another classmate, Ronnie, and I stood alone in our defense of Native Americans and their past mistreatment. One of us said something along the lines of, "It was wrong to just come and drive them out of their lands."

And there was this astounding reply by the pastor/teacher: "Why? They weren't doing anything with the land to begin with."

What's sad is that I believe this guy meant what he was saying, and that it was not some teacher trick to spur on discussion. Ronnie and I were simply in the minority.

Now, don't get me wrong: Neither of the conversations had anything to do with one another.

Still, it's strange that it's one of the few one-on-one teacher conversations that I can recall during my high school years: A teacher-pastor that I still consider to be misguided -- likable, but misguided.

Grace and peace ...

The case for faith in Christ: His presence ... and absence

2007-10-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

My wife, Donna, and daughter, Elizabeth, are on their way to Connecticut in search of great pizza.

I'm sure they'll find it ... plenty of it.

And as is my custom when home alone, I stopped by Blockbuster to pick up videos that only I would watch in this household. One of those videos was Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ." I'd forgotten that Strobel did a video version of the book in which the former legal reporter for the Chicago Tribune details his journey from atheism to belief in Jesus Christ.

For some reason, I felt compelled to watch the video, and I'm glad I did. I may see whether anyone at The Meadow wants to check it out. It might make a good Wednesday night discussion piece.

But as strong as the evidence is for Jesus Christ -- Scriptural, historical, and otherwise -- the greatest evidence is in lives that have been changed by his presence, and even his absence.

I can never think about Strobel without being reminded of an interview he did with Charles Templeton that he recalls in "The Case for Faith," published in 2000 by Zondervan. Templeton had been an evangelist. He was a close friend of Billy Graham, with whom he co-founded Youth for Christ International. He even once hosted a weekly religious broadcast on CBS entitled "Look Up and Live." But something happened along the way and in the mid-1950s, Templeton declared himself at agnostic.

During his conversation with Templeton, Strobel asked Templeton what he now thought about Jesus, and the conversation went something like this:

“He was the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my reading. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world.”

“You sound like you really care about him,” Strobel said.

“Well, yes. He’s the most important thing in my life,” he said. “I ... I ... I adore him ... Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus.”

Then, Strobel said, Templeton's voice began to crack, saying, “I ... miss ... him!”

Strobel said Templeton then burst into tears, but recovered, saying, “Enough of that."

To me, the loss of faith in Christ would be tantamount to living in hell on earth.

As the Psalmist prayed:

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:10-12)

Grace and peace ...

2007-09-11T12:58:00.000-04:00

Today kicks off The World's Biggest Blog Party, an effort by motivational speaker Tim Richardson to recruit 1,000 bloggers from around the to raise at least $1 million for groups doing global outreach. The party starts 7:30 tonight at Capitol Coffee, 127 W. Broadway, featuring a concert by Jana Stanfield.

If you can't make it to the coffee, you can party online at www.theworldsbiggestblogparty.com.

I think this would be a great way to raise money for efforts in line with ONE Millenium goals, which means it would involve local outreaches related to AIDS and poverty-related issues.

Think I'll ask Tim about that.

Grace and peace ...

The World’s Biggest Blog Party ...

2007-09-06T08:30:00.001-04:00

It's being billed as "The World's Biggest Blog Party: Bloggers Connecting the Globe for Good."

With as much time as most of us spend on the Net and in front the keyboard, I think it's a fantastic idea. So, I'm signing on ... so to speak.

If you want to read more about it, check out today's story on TheDailyTimes.com, or you can go straight to the Web site at TheWorldsBiggeestBlogParty.com.

I'm compiling a mental list of favs even now. I can probably only register one blog, so I think it will be Gathering Wool rather than The Pastor's Buzz. I may change my mind, though.

Grace and peace ...

We need to see the world with ...

2007-09-05T22:50:00.000-04:00

We have officially started the second year of Green Meadow's School of Hope.

A little more than a week ago, some Meadow folk gathered with former students and this year's new parents for a late Sunday afternoon meal.

I loved being with the young parents, but I really loved being with the babies and toddlers. As a former pastor of mine would say, holding a baby who has just been baptized, "This is the closest to heaven you will get on this earth."

I took a lot of pictures, one of which I posted on TheMeadow.org.

One of the things I enjoyed doing when my children were small was taking pictures as they discovered something new.

I took this photo when my son David appeared to have discovered rain puddles after a shower in Port Arthur, Texas.

Children always seem to see the world with fresh eyes.

Have you ever walked with a toddler the first time they venture outside? They stop and touch things we take for granted ... rocks, grass, bugs, leaves, you name it.

Walking from the porch to the driveway can take 30 minutes to an hour if you go at their pace.

They see the world with fresh eyes.

When we come to worship the living God, should we not come with fresh eyes?

When we move into mission, serving the least, the last and the lost, should we not come with fresh eyes?

When we journey into Creation, should we not see the world with fresh eyes?

If we truly believe in a God who "makes all things new," should we not come into all things with the expectation that each encounter will bring something new?

May we always greet his word, his presence in prayer, and those we serve in his name with "fresh eyes."

Grace and peace ...

Light in Seattle ...

2007-08-14T09:56:00.000-04:00

I'm in the Seattle area for a corporate meeting, but my body still thinks I'm in Tennessee.

I enjoyed the extra sleep. I went to bed at what was the Eastern Time equivalent of midnight and awakened at the equivalent of 8:30 a.m. -- 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

Since I didn't have to meet the others until 7:15 it gave me plenty of time to get ready and even spend some time in devotion. What a blessing.

I chose Matthew 5:13-16a to meditate upon. I was reminded that God has placed me in a somewhat unique position as a journalist. Even though my world is "small" (the Greater Metropolitan Maryville area), He sends people my way to affirm that when I do take the opportunity to write, His light shines through.

In response to His Word this morning, I prayed that He would quicken my spirit to the opportunities to be a light unto the world.

May my life never lose the salt that is the Holy Spirit working within me.

We spoke of Lectio Divina this past Sunday. If you would like an online experience, go to The Upper Room.

Grace and peace ... from Seattle.

Cannibal Christians

2007-07-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

I grew up on television.

I loved “I Love Lucy,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” and “The Real McCoys.”

They were syndicated shows on WTVR television, “the South’s First Television station,” when I was a youngster. I can remember watching those shows, laying on the floor in front of that black and white RCA television at my grandparents' house at 112 North Nansemond Street. The TV was housed in a polished wood cabinet -- mahogany or cherry, I’m not sure -- with double doors.

I was a TV junkie.

I even liked those shows that today we would consider politically incorrect, such as “Amos and Andy.”

Despite some of the crass, vulgar and profane things you see on cable television today, I’m not sure a network could broadcast “Amos and Andy” without a taking a great deal of heat.

And I certainly don’t think you could get by with certain episodes of “Our Gang” and “Popeye” cartoons.

The ones I’m thinking of this morning have to do with cannibals.

That’s right, cannibals.

You know, people who need people … for dinner.

Cannibals have an odd place in our culture.

Does anyone remember the 1960s rock band Cannibal and the Headhunters?

They actually opened for The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965 and hit the charts with a tune co-written by Fats Domino. It’s one of my Motown favorites: “Land of a Thousand Dances.”

“Naa-na-na-na-naaa-na-na-na-naaa-nanna-na-nanna-na … na-na-na-naaaa …”

It’s been recorded by a number of people, but Cannibal and the Headhunters got it on the charts.

Cannibals.

Did you know there is even a mathematical puzzle called “Cannibals vs. Missionaries”?

Of course, it is also a bit politically incorrect in that the cartoon cannibals are black while the missionaries are white.

But that’s the way it’s normally portrayed.

Which brings me to the TV shows of my childhood, such as “Popeye’s ‘Pop-Pie a la Mode,’” from 1945.

You remember Popeye.

Well in this cartoon, he’s shipwrecked on an island that he thinks is inhabited by friendly natives. However, it's really inhabited by cannibals who envision the sailor man as their next meal. Popeye has no idea what's going on ... until they throw him in the pot. The cannibal chief can be seen checking out the recipe in a cookbook entitled, "How to Serve Your Fellow Man."

I won’t ruin it for you, but you can guess what gets him out of hot water.

And then there’s Spanky and Our Gang’s “The Kid From Borneo.”

Whenever I think of cannibals I think of this old short that features "Bumbo: The Wild Man From Borneo." Bumbo, played by an African American adult named John Lester Johnson, is gentle and loves to eat, but his cry of "Yum-yum, eat 'em up!" leads the gang to believe he's really a cannibal.

Truth be known, cannibalism is real … so real that I have no desire to go into the details of anything other than amusing, if politically incorrect, media displays.

Throughout history, people have physically devoured people …

… and they’ve even devoured a few spiritually.

In today’s text, the Apostle Paul warns the Galatian church that it is in danger of Christian cannibalism.

That’s my phrase for it.

What Paul actually says is this:

“The whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Concerning this verse, John Wesley writes:

“But if — On the contrary, in consequence of the divisions which those troublers have occasioned among you, ye bite one another by evil speaking. And devour one another — By railing and clamor. Take heed ye be not consumed one of another — By bitterness, strife, and contention, our health and strength, both of body and soul, are consumed, as well as our substance and reputation.”

Of course, John Wesley sometimes handled others with a little less grace than could have been offered.

The story goes that once while he was preaching, he saw a woman in the audience who was known for her critical attitude.

All through the service she stared at his new tie. When the meeting ended, she came up to him and said sharply, “Mr. Wesley, the strings on your bow tie are much too long. It’s an offense to me.”

He asked if any of the women at the service happened to have a pair of scissors. Someone did, and after they handed them to him he gave them to the woman and asked her to trim the strings. She did.

“Are you sure they are all right now?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s much better.”

“Then let me have those shears a moment,” Wesley said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I also give you a bit of correction. I don’t want to be cruel, but I must tell you, madam, that your tongue is an offense to me — it’s too long! Please stick it out; I’d like to take some off!” (Thanks to R. Kent Hughes' "1001 Great Stories 'Quotes,'" 1998, p95

Conflict within the body of Christ can devour you physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

But it can occur.

And it does occur.

If often begins when grace has failed to prevail.

Such was the case with the Galatian community, within which there was a group of Judaizers telling Gentile believers they had to subscribe to Mosaic law, including circumcision. In his letter, Paul flat out rejects the Judaizers and encourages the Galatian community to center on the law of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that the greatest law is the law of love, and that Christians should become slaves to each other through self-sacrifice.

It’s really hard to be mad at someone when they’re serving you at the table, Amen?

Rather than engage in endless conflict within the body of Christ, we need to engage in love, Christ-like love. Living out the perfect love of Christ is what holds a community together. It's summed up this way: “love your neighbor as yourself.”

We are called to fulfill God’s law by being in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Following Christ fulfills the law, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

When you live otherwise in community, as was evident in the Galatian church, the ultimate outcome is devouring one another. They were in danger of becoming Christian cannibals.

What is the alternative menu?

The fruit of the Spirit …

First on Paul’s menu list is Love.

Love should be the most prevalent dish in any Christian community.

Sisters and brothers, love covers a multitude of sins.

If the world sees the church engage in Christian cannibalism … devouring and biting one another … the work of the Holy Spirit will be hindered and nothing we can do will draw them into fellowship.

But if the church feeds on a diet of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, dishes that same diet to the ones we seek to serve, then the world would want to feast at this table.

They will, as songwriter Randy Stonehill would say, 'clamor at our door, and find the life they hunger for.'

Grace and peace ...

Irenaeus and the Gnostics

2007-06-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

While I have long enjoyed devotional material from Oswald Chambers and Brennan Manning, I sometimes engage in "daily offices" when I am working on strengthening my devotional disciplines. I first encountered that phrase when I was talking to my then-pastor Larry Ousley. I told Larry I sometimes picked up an old Methodist Book of Worship and used an order of worship for devotional time.

"Oh, you're doing daily offices," he said.

I had never heard the phrase before, but I have since read that it has its roots in what are called canonical hours of prayers set by the Roman Catholic Church. My research tells me that it has also been called "divine office," from the Latin officium divinum, or "divine service," "divine duty."

My favorite source of daily office is from Mission St. Clare. (The source of this Web site appears to be the Mission Santa Clara in Santa Cruz, Calif., which dates to 1777.)

The daily office from Mission St. Clare includes biographies by James E. Kiefer. The Society of Archbishop Justus' Web site describes Kiefer as "a quiet soul whose day job is in a government research laboratory, but who enriches all of us by using his spare time to write down the stories of the people who, through the centuries, have made the Christian church be what it is today."

Today's was on Irenaeus. If you get a chance, check it out. It's a fascinating look at an early bishop and his battle with Gnosticism.

Null and Void ...

2007-06-19T22:18:00.000-04:00

I love to get checks in the mail.

When I fill out those insurance forms, peel the prescription labels off and paste them row upon row on an 8½-by-11 sheet of paper, it’s the only thing that keeps me going. I look forward to the return payoff from TriCare/Humana.

Sometimes it’s not quite the amount it should be … at least, in my eyes. Still, it’s better than the $10,000, $20,000, $35,000 checks that arrive on a regular basis.

You know the ones I’m talking about.

If you have ever had a credit card, you get them.

They’re from the companies trying to ensnare you into greater debt.

They’re the one’s that are stamped “null and void,” or carry some other such disclaimer.

They can’t be cashed without incurring long-lasting debt with loan-shark rates. They are otherwise worthless.

Unless you are willing to sign on the dotted line, promising your first-born child or other asset, they are, in fact of law, null and void.

When Donna sees them, they go right to the shredder, lest some identity thief gets a hold of them, somehow alters them and buys something ridiculous that we would never touch.

In Galatians 2:15-21, Paul is again dealing with the Judaizing controversy, whereby Jewish Christians are trying to impose circumcision and Mosaic law upon Gentile converts. The Jewish Christians were telling the Gentiles that before they could become followers of The Way, they had to first become Jewish converts.

Paul knew all about trying to square his relationship with God by trying to keep the law. As Saul, he was a Pharisee and judged accordingly, but considered himself blameless when it came to obedience to the law. As Paul, he came to understand that his standard of blamelessness fell short of the mark and only trusting in the righteousness of Jesus Christ would place him in a right relationship with God.

He would later say he counted it all cowpies when measured against the all-surpassing grace of Jesus Christ.

For the past two months, I have been hard at work installing a new computer system and learning new programs so we can continue to publish The Daily Times. (We all have our crosses to bear …) Now, I realize some people still consider a printer the "devil's apprentice," but give us a little bit of Christian credit.

Johannes Gutenberg is believed to have invented movable type sometime around 1440-1450, depending upon the source. His major work was the Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line Bible. His achievement is said to have helped spur the Protestant Reformation with the widespread printing of Bibles and Martin Luther's works.

It beat the socks off of handwritten manuscripts and wood-block printing, but it was still pretty labor intensive. His press was built sort of like a wine or olive press; his Bibles were printed six pages at a time and may have required as many as 100,000 pieces of type. Setting each page would have taken hours; making that much type may have taken years.

The screw-type press was the basic method of printing for more than 300 years and then came the iron-framed lever press. Then there were type innovations as lithography, linotype, and monotype; press innovations included revolving and offset presses.

With all of those innovations, that type of printing used what we in the trade call “hot metal,” “hot lead,” “hot metal,” or simply “hot type.”

(By the way: We still have two or three people at The Daily Times who remember when that newspaper was produced with hot type.)

Hot type gave way to what we call “cold type.”

The first generation of cold type used a photographic process to generate columns, or galleys, of type on a scroll of photographic paper. It was called phototypesetting, which was the process that was still in use when I arrived at The Daily Times in 1989.

In the old days of what we called cold-type printing, we cut out the type and then pasted up the page on a large sheet of paste-up board. We then took that page to a huge camera, took a picture of it, and then used the negative to make a printing plate.

We moved from that system of cold-type printing to desktop publishing, where we create an entire page within the computer before printing it out to a negative.

In our previous desktop publishing system, we could create a place-holder for a story or photo on the page through what was called a “null” file.

A null file.

Can you guess what was in that file?

Nothing.

Nadda.

It was null -- and void -- of any content.

While faith without works is a dead faith, Paul came to understand that attempting to satisfy God’s righteousness by adding works to faith would nullify the grace of God.

It would be null -- and void -- of any benefit to salvation.

Joseph M. McShane, a Jesuit priest, writes in the magazine Christian Century:

"Paul’s rejection of the law as the source of righteousness before God (Gal. 2:11-21) and the story of the sinful woman in the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7:36-50) have often been taken by Christians as evidence of a Jewish legalism, which has been replaced by the superior Christian gospel of grace.

“Yet the same people who applaud Christianity’s break with the law may be found demanding tougher laws, more rigorous enforcement and longer prison terms to deal with the social evils of our own day.
“We want to clean up our society. We expect the laws, courts and law-enforcement officers to be the agents of such social purification. Are we not Pharisees at heart?”[1]

Are we not Pharisees at heart … not only in the way we deal with others, but in the way we deal with our own relationship to God?

Justification by grace alone is the foundation of the missio dei in that everyone enters into a relationship with God on the same basis. The gospel is for everyone.

Gutenberg’s press helped spread the words of Martin Luther. In his commentary on Galatians, Luther writes, “Now, if I could perform any work acceptable to God and deserving of grace, and once having obtained grace my good works would continue to earn for me the right and reward of eternal life, why should I stand in need of the grace of God and the suffering and death of Christ? Christ would be of no benefit to me. Christ's mercy would be of no use to me.”

To say it another way, Christ’s mercy would be null … and void.

When we negate the Cross by turning back to the law — either in the demands on our own spiritual life, or demanding such from others — we nullify grace.

I don't listen to James Dobson much anymore, largely due to his involvement with politics. (That's for another blog.) Still, Dobson's child-rearing advice was invaluable to me as a young father. I was listening his radio program the Friday before Father's Day and a man was talking about some of the “dad” things he did while raising his son and daughter. To me, every single one of them was the right thing to do. For instance, he created a right of passage for his son, marking the transition from boy to man. He went out on dates with his daughter. He cited other fatherly actions that just seemed like the right thing to do.

As I looked back, I did some of those things; others, I didn’t.

I took hold of some opportunities; others, I didn’t.

It made me wonder: Why is it that, despite the knowledge that I did a number of things right in raising my children — I mean, hey, I couldn’t be more proud of how they turned out — it is the missed opportunities that haunt me?

Why am I always caught up in the thought of, “I should have done more …”

For me, it was my question of the day for God.

And the answer came: Because too often I see with the eyes of the world. In the eyes of the world, grace is null and void.

In the eyes of the world, we have to work our way to the top.

We strive … and strive … and strive … and never feel good enough.

That great modern expositor of grace Brennan Manning writes the following in his book, “Lion and Lamb”:

“One of the most shocking contradictions in Christian living is the intense dislike many disciples of Jesus have for themselves. They are more displeased, impatient, irritated, unforgiving, and spiteful with their own shortcomings than they would ever dream of being with someone else’s. They are fed up with themselves, sick of their own mediocrity, disgusted by their own inconsistency, bored by their own monotony. They would never judge any other of God’s children with the savage self-condemnation with which they crush themselves. …

“Would you like to know this moment how Jesus feels about you? Bernard Bush says this is the way you will know: if you love yourself intensely and freely, then your feelings about yourself correspond perfectly to the feelings of Jesus.

“And the divine double take, of course, is that loving ourselves frees us to love others.” (citation to come)

Sisters and brothers …

Moms and Dads …

Strop striving.

Your heavenly Father loves you just as you are.

And his Son has already paid the price.

[1] http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=879; June 15, 2007

With doors wide open ...

2007-04-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

When God opens the doors, He really opens them!

Maybe it's because Green Meadow United Methodist Church is quick to open doors to others.

We haven't even finished with one fund-raiser for the School of Hope, when another one is being announced.

Here's the scoop from an e-mail blast by Rick Laney, who is Mike Williams' partner in faith with Feed Your Faith:

Feed Your Faith is presenting an evening with Dove Award winning Sanctus Real, with guest artists This Beautiful Republic and Needtobreathe with the proceeds to benefit School of Hope. The concert will be held 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) Friday, May 4, at High Praises Church, 1601 Broadway Ave., Maryville.

There are a limited number of tickets available -- $14 in advance, $16 the day of the concert. Groups of 10 or more will pay just $12 per ticket and groups of 25 or more will pay just $10 per ticket. You can obtain them at www.feedyourfaith.org, or by calling 274-7621.

About Sanctus Real

Last year, members of Sanctus Real discovered their greatest joy making and playing music together as the best of friends. Today, with the release of their third national record, "The Face of Love," Sanctus Real comes of age, pressing forward to carry a compelling image of hope to an eager world. With that album, the four-member, Toledo, Ohio-based rock band is poised to make this a breakout year.

"The Face of Love" contains hard-hitting songs portraying universal themes of love, brokenness and the sometime elusive sense of God's presence. Inspired by real-life heartache and rediscovered joy, the emotions behind each track are vulnerable and undisguised, making this album the bands most accessible project. Further, Sanctus Real members Matt Hammitt (lead vocals), Mark Graalman (drums), Chris Rohman (guitars) welcome newest addition Dan Gartley (bass), a protoge of producer Mark Townsend. Gartley replaces former bassist Steve Goodrum. Enter producer Chris Stevens (tobyMac, Shawn McDonald), who helped the band channel its complex emotions into songwriting, their grief-stricken passion into powerful, emotive studio performances.

The album's opening confessional, "I'm Not Alright," locates the singer in desperate human brokenness, requiring him to move closer to God for strength. Inspired by Brennan Manning's "The Signature of Jesus," the albums title track, "The Face of Love," became an unabashed anthem of unconditional love.With "The Face of Love," Modern Rock Album of the Year Winners Sanctus Real recognizes change throughout life is hard, even gut-wrenching. Yet it can finally usher empowering expectations. More to the point, death does not get the final word. Love does, and it happens every day, in a child's birth, in deciding to press on searching for another chance - even in making music with your best friends. This is the hope to start again, and in them are images of love.

About Feed Your Faith

Feed Your Faith is a ministry started by Maryville resident Mike Williams. The non-profit group brings well-known speakers, authors and performing artists to East Tennessee to help Christians grow in their faith while raising money to help local charities.

Past Feed Your Faith events have raised thousands of dollars for organizations including the Second Harvest Food Bank, Knox Area Rescue Ministries and the Compassion Coalition.

Last year, Rick Laney joined Mike Williams as a partner to promote and market the Feed Your Faith events. Most recently,Feed Your Faith brought best-selling author Lee Strobel to Knoxville.

Feed Your Faith now partners with Cedar Springs Christian Bookstores, Love 89, Joy 62 and many local churches to extend the reach of this exciting ministry.

About the School of Hope

The mission of School of Hope is to share God’s love by equipping teenage parents, parents to be, and their children to meet the challenges of life through spiritual, parental, academic, and life skills education in a nurturing, nonjudgmental, loving environment.

Students at the School of Hope meet for four hours a day, five days a week, and have to abide by an attendance policy. But the school provides much more than preparation for getting a GED. The School of Hope, a mission of Green Meadow United Methodist Church, helps teenagers develop life skills such as cooking, shopping, banking and parenting as well as eyeing the possibility of furthering their education after earning their GED. The underlying theme of the program is to educate the parents, academically and spiritually, so their children can have a better life. Teen pregnancies are a big factor in having a life of poverty, and The School of Hope is helping teen parents and their new children beat the odds.

For more information, visit http://www.feedyourfaith.org/, http://www.sanctusreal.com/, and www.TheMeadow.org/soh.htm or call Feed Your Faith at (865) 274-7621.

Bound by the cross

2007-04-07T23:41:00.000-04:00

I recently chatted with a woman who called herself a "cradle Methodist. "

I had heard of Cradle Catholics, and thought it was good alliteration, as well as a descriptive phrase for someone who was “born into the faith” – though, I such claims. Rarely, if ever, had I heard the phrase Cradle Methodist.

But, then again, I wasn’t a cradle anything.

While I was baptized at the age of 13 in the Baptist church where my Uncle Russell was a deacon, I didn’t make a firm commitment to Jesus Christ until the age of 29.

It was then that I was marked by the Cross and transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Have you been marked by the cross?

Have you drawn so close to Jesus Christ that you can not only see the nail scars in his hands, and the pierced hole in his side, but you can also see the lines on his face?

Many of us began this journey on Ash Wednesday, when we took the sign of the cross as a sign of identification, that we are bound together with Christ and his sufferings.

We look to the cross and remember that he suffered for us, that he died for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God.

Do you see constant reminders of the Cross?

A mentor and good friend during the early years of my faith journey was Dick Pace. Our young families lived next door to each other and were even in Sunday School together.

Dick and I had this ritual of cutting firewood every summer and fall.

In that first year of my Christian journey, I began to notice the sign of the cross in places where I had never noticed it before – such as utility poles and trees. Man, I saw crosses everywhere!

I mentioned that to Dick and he just grinned and said something to the effect of having new eyes to go with a new heart.

When the cross is implanted in your heart, there are constant reminders. There are reminders in places I am only now discovering.

Ripshin is the name of a lake on which our family cabin sits. It’s also the place where I committed my life to Christ on Easter Sunday, 1985.

During the early spring summer months on Ripshin Lake, the shrill call of small frogs can be deafening. You know, the ones that are called “spring peepers.” All winter long, they lay silent, even frozen solid under grasses and leaves at the edge of marshlands. When the warm air of spring thaws their cold bodies, they shout a chorus of spring and life.

It’s only appropriate, given that the name for spring peepers is hyla crucifer, or “Bearers of the Cross.”

On each small back is found the sign … of … the … cross.

I recently read that God has placed other cross-bearers within nature; for instance, there is the crucianella, or “Crossworts,” or “Little Crosses,” so named because of the arrangement of their leaves. There are about 2,000 cross-bearing plants, or cruciferae, within nature. Some of those plants include broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower, radishes and turnips.

And then there is the Rose of Jericho, or Resurrection plant, that is found arid areas such as Texas, Mexico, El Salvador, much of South America, and Egypt, as well as Arabia and Syria. (Thanks to Lawrence Nelson.)

We speak of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ; his selfless, redemptive death and the resurrection. The Rose of Jericho is a paschal plant, in that after the rainy season in these dry, arid areas, it dies and dries up, curling its stems into a tight ball, which protects the seeds and prevents them from being dispersed prematurely. The seeds of the Resurrection Plant can lie dormant for years, but when rain finally returns, the branches of the dead plant spread out and a fraction of the seeds are dispersed by raindrops.

The Resurrection Plant has four-petaled blossoms that open in the shape of a cross.

God marked Creation with the sign of the cross … if only we have eyes to see it.

A few weeks ago, I heard Luis Giglio preach during a worship event with Chris Tomlin and Matt Reman, both of whom are popular songwriters of contemporary praise and worship music.

Giglio and Tomlin are both from Texas and have led worship together for some time, most notably in what are called Passion Conferences.

Last year, the duo came through Knoxville on what was called the “Indescribable” tour. Somehow, I missed that event. But that was OK, because Giglio did a recap of his message on this “How Great Is Our God” tour.

Giglio used Psalm 33:6 in attempting to describe just how big our God is compared to the universe.

The psalmist writes, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Our God is so big, he breathes out stars — stars that are way bigger than our sun. I mean, way bigger. Compared to Earth, the sun is enormous! It contains 99.86% of all of the mass of the entire solar system. The sun is 864,400 miles (1,391,000 kilometers) across. This is about 109 times the diameter of Earth. The sun weighs about 333,000 times as much as Earth. It is so large that about 1,300,000 planet Earths can fit inside of it. Earth is about the size of an average sunspot!

Giglio pointed out the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51, which is about 30 million light years away from this speck of dust in the universe that we call Earth. The distance across the Whirlpool Galaxy is about 27 kiloparsecs (or, 90,000 light years).

There is this image taken of the core of the Whirlpool Galaxy from the Hubble telescope. In the center ... is ... a ... cross.

And so, Giglio keeps showing these stars, these mammoth creations, comparing our little tiny sun to these gargantuan stellar objects, saying stuff like, “If the earth was a golf ball, you could put so many of these in our sun; and so many suns could be put in canis majoris; and if the earth was a golf ball placed next to such-and-such star, it would be like putting a golf ball at the base of six Empire State buildings, stacked one upon another.”

He just overwhelms you … which … is … his … goal.

The God who breathes out stars … cares for you and I … who are like specks on a golf ball. So much so, he gave his one and only Son … who loved us enough to die on the cross.

There are these things called “meet-and-greets” after an event such as that one. And Giglio says that at the very last stop on the “Indescribable” tour, this guy comes up and asks, “So … where ya going next?”

“Well, I’m going to a church outside Atlanta where I plan on talking about how God created this complex human body …”

“What are you going to say?”

“Well, gee, I’ve still got nine days to put it together.”

At that point, the guy gets all animated and says, “You’ve got to tell them about Laminin!”

“Laminin?” Giglio says.

“Yes, laminin!”

And the guy proceeds to tell him that he’s a molecular biologist.

“Go back. Google it. Then tell them about laminin.”

So, Giglio goes home and Googles laminin. Because, he wants to know what’s got this molecular biologist all excited.

As it turns out, laminin is the molecule that binds cell membranes together … It literally holds our cells together. It’s the bonding agent of life.

And molecular biologists diagram laminin … in the shape ... of a cross.

Sisters and brothers, it is the cross that holds us together.

Physically … and Spiritually. We are bound together … by the Cross.

It’s all around us.

It’s the glue that binds us to God … and to each other.

Grace and peace ...

Going through suffering ...

2007-03-26T22:59:00.000-04:00

We're coming down the stretch of "40 Days With Jesus."

Palm Sunday and the adoring crowds are just around the corner.

Jesus will meet with his disciples in the Upper Room.

Betrayal will come.

Good Friday brings the cross. But as Tony Campolo would say, "It's Friday, But Sunday's Comin'!"

Still, Leslie Weatherhead has another viewpoint:

" ... the story of the Cross takes us further and is very relevant to the whole problem of suffering. Christ did not just passively endure it while God looked on. He took such an attitude to it, accepting it in such a positive and trusting spirit, that he wrested from it triumph and victory. ... he turned debit into a credit, so that Good Friday is not a sad story with a happy ending on Easter Day. Both are days of triumph as we look back on them." ("Salute to a Sufferer," 1962, Leslie D. Weatherhead, Abingdon Press, NY/Nashville; p19)

Can we look back on our own suffering -- or even if we are suffering today -- and discover "days of triumph?"

Grace and peace ...

Are we getting the 'naked' truth: Is the tomb really empty?

2007-03-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

It was really weird.

I was laying on the sofa Sunday afternoon, trying to get some badly needed rest to combat an oncoming cold, when daughter Elizabeth stopped flipping the channels long enough to catch some show called (and I kid you not) "The Naked Archaeologist."

It seems we caught two episodes, but I'm not sure. Chalk it up to the fog of phlegm. But the one episode I recall was a pseudo-debate over whether King David's biblical empire was a real empire, or whether he was just another Jewish boy in the hood. Elizabeth and I chuckled at the cheezy cuts of old movie clips and cartoonish images. It was more humorous than informative, and only slightly balanced.

We sort of liked it.

And then, there he was on the Monday morning news show with the mighty James Cameron of "Titanic" fame. I found out "The Naked Archaeologist" actually had a name: Simcha Jacobovici. I also found out he wasn't an archaeologist at all, but maintains he's merely a journalist detailing and interpreting the findings of those who wear the true cloth of archaeologists. (I guess he is naked after all, huh?)

And what was he detailing and interpreting now? The supposed discovery of the tomb of Jesus, replete with the ossuary that he believes once held the Messiah's bones.

Well, what he was really detailing on network news was that we can all find out more about this by either buying his book, "The Jesus Family Tomb," which went on sale Tuesday, or watching "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" on The Discovery Channel on Sunday.

I'm almost surprised they didn't debut this thing on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, or Easter Monday with Wal-Mart placards proclaiming, "The Tomb Isn't Empty!" But then they would miss all those sales between now and Easter. After, all, if you're going to claim that the tomb is not empty, that there was no physical resurrection, you want to give people plenty of time to get razzled.

Pardon me if I sound cynical, particularly since I have yet to read the book or see the film; in fact, I really shouldn't get started on this, but as a pastor and journalist, I am already facing questions from people. So, here are some questions of my own that I trust will receive some answers:

Probably even more so than today, there were a lot of attempts to discredit the faith during the days of the early church. If there was truly a 'Jesus family tomb' located just outside of Jerusalem, don't you think someone would have said then, "No, no! The tomb is NOT empty. There he is, right over there!"
Isn't it just as possible -- or even just as nakedly ridiculous -- that in the days of the early church, someone seeking to discredit the faith could have set up a hoax 'Jesus family tomb' just outside of Jerusalem, saying, "No, no! He is not risen! There he is, right over there!"
I'm not a scholar of the writings of Flavious Josephus and his "Antiquities of the Jews," so The Naked Journalist will have to tell me: Did Josephus mention this? Certainly he would have ...
I'm curious: What does the DNA of someone who is 100 percent human and 100 percent divine look like?

Just some early questions that I hope "The Naked Archaeologist" addresses.

Finally -- and I've penned this in something of a rush, so forgive me -- but the question is not, "Was the tomb really empty," but "Is the tomb empty for you?"

Preparing for Ash Wednesday

2007-02-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to scarf down pancakes today, but worship got in the way, so I settled for Taco Bell.

The reason I say worship got in the way is because I used my lunch break from The Daily Times to plan Ash Wednesday. I should have just headed over to IHOP and forgot about it, because pretty much everything I did was scrapped this evening in favor of a a more intimate, soulful gathering.

It is in keeping with my being drawn back to the basics. There was a time when I was eating meat, woofing down spiritual ribeyes, but at some point I lost my teeth and now find myself sensing a need to return to milk.

And so, the likely tiny group who will join me at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday will find a time of worship that brings us close together with prayer, Scripture reading, and simple song.

We will write spiritual epitaphs to remind us that from simple dust we came, and to simple dust we will return.

We will make the mark of the cross ... and we will step out on a 40-day journey with Jesus.

And by the grace of God, we will emerge transformed on Easter Sunday.

Grace and peace ...

Preacher podcasts prevent pileups

2007-02-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

Every teacher needs a teacher, every pastor needs a pastor, and some of us preachers like to listen to someone else’s preaching.
At least, that’s what works for me.

The problem is this: I’m preaching on Sunday morning, so it’s difficult to catch someone else’s stuff.
In the past, radio preachers did it for me; however, today they mostly stick to the same, old modernist themes. My congregation will testify that their pastor goes for something a little different — and Christian radio doesn’t do well with "different."

So, in past years, it pretty much came down to feeding what my wife probably considers an extreme case of bibliomania. The growing additions to my library have only been slowed by the need to limit my reading to current sermon themes or class work.

In addition, since I’m a newspaper editor, there is news and publishing-related reading that I have to do.
Up until recent years, my theological interests were pretty much in line with the norm — well, at least the norm for me. You could expect to find books from, among others, C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, Malcolm Muggeridge and Henri Nouwen (OK, I’m, Protestant, but some Roman Catholic writers understand the mystery of God in ways that we Protestants have forgotten, or even dismissed.)

In the last five or six years, my favorite reading from contemporary Protestant theologians has included, among others, Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo. (I keep adding the "others," because while it takes time to sit down and read a book, those of us with ADD sometimes read three books at once. No kidding.)

But a couple of years ago, God revealed a "new thing" to me: Podcasts and MP3 files. And since that revelation, the six-CD changer in my Honda is no longer totally filled with the likes of Third Day, Casting Crowns and Rich Mullins. It’s had to make room for preachers who do not have to pass through an editorial gateway.

Because while I enjoy the printed word, there’s something about "hearing" someone preach that appeals to me.
Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church, one of those preachers in my CD player, puts it like this: "Of course, good preaching gets me fired up. It’s the original guerrilla theater."

I would agree.

Scripture aside, it’s sometimes difficult to translate into text what the Holy Spirit does through preaching. You catch the inflections, the pauses, the accentuation of certain points — and I’m totally into that aspect.

Plus, it’s hard to read while driving down Alcoa Highway.

Trust me.

Sometimes you gotta roll the dice on faith

2007-01-17T14:50:00.000-05:00

It was an earnest question that came through my e-mail: “What do you say to someone who is looking for advice on religion, but is unable to accept on faith?”

The person is in great company, for the question of faith and belief predates Christendom.

One story that comes to mind is that of the man in the crowd who brought his demoniac son to Jesus. This story is found in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, with great similarities. In Mark 9:21-24, there is more conversation between the father and Jesus than in the other gospels, and in the New International Version it reads like this:

Jesus asked the boy's father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can?’ said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

For many of us, a kernel of faith is about all we carry on this Christian journey and in our honesty we cry to God, “Lord, I believe; help me in my unbelief.”

In explanatory notes on this Scripture, John Wesley writes: “Although my faith be so small, that it might rather be termed unbelief, yet help me.”

In every Christian, there is a measure of unbelief, the roots of which are in the fantastic nature of the story — not to mention modernism, empiricism and postmodernism.

For those who stand on the precipice of faith, teetering between belief and unbelief and afraid to step into the unknown — much like the lead character in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” — consider the 17th century French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal and his wager from the 1670 apologetic “Pensees”:

“Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us consider the two possibilities. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Hesitate not, then, to wager that He is.”

For some of us, Pascal’s wager is a good place to start when we find the initial steps of faith too daunting. One who is seeking can step forward with the understanding of, “In the end, even if turns out to be nothing more than myth, I have still lived a better life for having believed it.”

Faith may sometimes seem like a roll of the dice, nothing more than a cosmic crap shoot. But when I rolled the dice 22 years ago, I never imagined such a great payoff — in the here and the now, not just in the hereafter!

And while the here and now is great, you can be assured that in the end it's no gamble.

Grace and peace ...

Thankful for the Sabbath experience ...

2007-01-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest struggles of bivocational ministry is finding myself in want of a regular Sabbath experience and carving time for personal worship.

Too often I find myself living day to day, week to week without a Sabbath. Yet, I am grateful to serve this community where I am given a number of Sundays "off" to experience renewal.

Such was the case on New Year's weekend when my family took up three chalets at Fairhaven Ministries. On Sunday morning, I decided to walk the trails on the grounds along Roaring Creek. It was a wonderful time of quiet contemplation ... a time that I greatly needed. (I was gone so long that Donna later told me she became worried.)

The weather had an early spring-like feel to it; the breeze was cool and brisk. At one point, I stood on a trail that was transformed into a wind tunnel and watched rhododendron leaves shimmer rhythmically -- creation dancing in the Spirit! Every so often I would stop and photograph the cascading creek as it journeys along the Doe River watershed.

A beautiful waterfall caught my eye in the distance, but the trail only allowed my tennis-shoed feet to pursue it but so far. As I journeyed toward an easier passage I stopped at the creekside ... rushing water steadily roared in my ears ... a brisk breeze heightened my senses ... instinctively I lifted my arms in praise, with my face to the heavens.

Worship ...

Grace and peace ...

In fear of pogotheism ...

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

I was talking with Annette Spence, editor of The Call, today, making story suggestions and generally just getting caught up.

One bit of news I passed on concerned the launching of School of Hope, while another bit of news concerned the moving of my personal Web site and the blog Gathering Wool to buzztrexler.com.

"How's that going?" she asked. "Are you still keeping it up, or has things slowed you down?"

I confessed that work at The Daily Times had swamped me to the degree that my blogging had fallen off.

Not only that, but my perusal of other blogs and keeping up with current events in Christendom had pretty much become nonexistent. In this day and age, things can move pretty far in a couple of months time, and it doesn't take long to get behind.

Take the emerging church, for example. Just a year ago I was up to date on the latest thoughts concerning the transformation faced by the institutional church, and the movement of Christians outside of those institutions.

Today, I received an update on Charlie Wear's Next-Wave Ezine. The lead piece was headlined, "Theological Disagreement and The Emerging Church," by Stephen Shields. Shields is a fairly prolific blogger on emerging church matters. After reading his column, I started poking around the posts and comments on his blog. What I found was what I had been missing ... and, quite frankly, a bit thankful in my ignorance.

The Conversation has apparently bogged down in the difference between those who see themselves as "emerging church," but not "emergent." One fellow has even gone so far as to define a group as "Friend of Missional," rather than seeing himself aligned with "emergent" or the "emerging church" -- groups that apparently have found themselves categorized one way or the other.

Don't ask me to get into all of this -- that is the differences between those in the "emergent" stream, as opposed to those in the "emerging church." If you are interested, go to Shields' post Is the Distinction between "Emerging Church" and "Emergent" Obscurantist?

It's all a bit too much for me, but as I noted: I'm probably a year behind the curve in these discussions.

I've decided I have no time for such discussions, or further immersing myself in the varous tomes that have emerged concerning the emerging church. I would rather be missional -- serving the least, the last and the lost -- and going back to the root of the faith -- that is, Scripture.

Furthermore, trying to define something that is "emerging" almost seems by its very nature indefinable.

One thing I would note: It was a lack of this very thing -- theological, doctrinal, creedal and other splitting of hairs -- that attracted me to the emerging church Conversation to begin with. Now, I fear it is heading to pogogtheism -- "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Grace and peace ...

School of Hope sees first young parents ...

2006-11-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

After about two years of prayer and planning, Green Meadow's transformational mission known as School of Hope has moved from a crawl to a walk.

It appears we will soon be trotting along and perhaps find ourselves in a headlong run as six young parents recently took educational assessment tests and one is currently beginning studies. In all, we expect to be serving six young mothers this year.

It occurs to us that a few more runners would be nice.

There is a great deal of energy and financial commitment expended by God's people on behalf of pro-life causes. As a father of two, I am a firm believer in the sanctity of life. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am also a believer in putting feet to the Gospel -- and I believe School of Hope does just that.

The mission of Green Meadow School of Hope is to share God’s love by equipping teenage parents, parents to be, and their children to meet the challenges of life through spiritual, parental, academic, and life skills education in a nurturing, nonjudgmental, loving environment.

We believe there are many young parents who are not prepared for the challenges that lay ahead -- in terms of education and life skills -- and yet, at a very young age, that is where they find themselves. Unfortunately, many leave the public education system before graduation -- sometimes out of necessity, sometimes due to the same misguided decisions that brought on early parenthood. Whatever the situation, they are in need of faith, hope and love ... and grace.

Too often the church plants a huge scarlet letter on these young people, at a time when they are in need of help from the Body of Christ. When you consider the missio dei -- the mission of God, which is love -- scarlet letters are anti-Kingdom.

Are you the kind of disciple who believes grace is open to all?

Are you willing to be part of God's transforming grace?

We believe the School of Hope is an opportunity to impact not just one generation, but future generations as well. Changing one young parent's life can break a cycle of poverty and oppression that endangers the next generation.

If you are interested in being a part of this mission of God's love, whether teaching or serving in some other capacity, or know of a young parent who would benefit from the school, e-mail Linda Daugherty.

Grace and peace ...

Market church as brand of Christ

2006-10-27T15:34:00.000-04:00

Marketing the church is big business.

Michael Duduit, editor at PreachingNow.com, recently noted that the U.S. Army has moved from a slogan of "Be All You Can Be" to "Army Strong." In that vein, Duduit suggests the following slogans for churches:

"Methodist Calm"

"Presbyterian Orderly"

"Baptist Loud"

"Pentecostal Happy"

"Evangelical Sharing"

Duduit doesn’t stop there, but extends the idea to those who are anti-Kingdom:

"Agnostics Unsure"

"Atheists Alone"

As a journalist-pastor — one who is big on words, as well as the Word — it sort of appeals to me, but I have to wonder about the effectiveness of marketing schemes in the name of Jesus Christ.

When I joined the community of faith as pastor at Green Meadow United Methodist Church in 2002, I started referring to the church as "The Meadow," which is what my friends call the community. I liked it. I thought, "That’s catchy. It has this peaceful, serene feel to it. Kinda makes you want to sit down on a rock and pray right there."

We even went so far as to buy the domain name, themeadow.org. I had business cards printed with the slogan, "Come Walk With God ... In The Meadow."

One thought behind all of this was the possibility that it would lessen the confusion factor between us and our cousin church down the road, Green Meadow Church of God. Don’t get me wrong: We have no problem being associated with Green Meadow Church of God, but we would like to get some of their visitors there on time — or at least let them know that we start worship at 10:30 a.m., not 11 a.m.

It didn’t work.

Not long after we launched the Web site, Green Meadow Church of God put out a banner that said, "Welcome to the Meadow."

So much for unique marketing ideas.

We still occasionally have people wandering in a little early on Sunday mornings, thinking we are Green Meadow Church of God.

To quote a famous frog, "It ain’t easy being green."

All of this has led me to believe that marketing the name of Christ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There’s the possibility that Madison Avenue techniques only further blur the line between the church and the world.

As you can tell, I didn’t always think that way, and I recognize there are those who believe that using anything short of sin to reach people in the name of Jesus Christ is acceptable.

It may be acceptable, but is it lasting?

If it’s the slogan that appeals to someone, what happens when a better slogan comes along?

The same might be said for Christian consumerism: If the First Church of the Mighty Good Brethren and Sisters has the best whatever in town and draws a huge crowd for Christ, what happens if the Last Church of the Cistern comes up with something better?

A key aspect of contemporary marketing is something called "branding." Branding is a marketing concept whereby concrete symbols are closely associated with a product’s values, ideas and even personality. Brands are intended to be so well integrated into the product and marketing that the hopeful outcome is that consumers will not be able to see one without thinking of the other.

Since the church represents Christ, then perhaps we ought to be marketing suffering, self-denial and sacrifice.

Admittedly, it doesn’t sell very well in today’s consumer Christianity, but let’s face it: That was the only brand he carried, and he carried it all the way to the cross.

Celebrating recovery ...

2006-10-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

I've been preaching Wednesday nights at Blount County Celebrate Recovery this month, and it's been good for me.

The idea was to give pastors Steve Streeter and Mike White a break. What it has done is provide me with a time of worship and a reminder of where God has brought me from, and how much I own him.

It's not like I've had to compose an additional message each week, which would have been nearly impossible for me. I have merely told the story of where I was, where God has brought me, and put it into the perspective of recovery.

I live in recovery, so that has been the easy part.

We have had about 20 people there each night, and worship has been good.

With work closing in on me at times, I've needed that midweek respite. It's made me wonder whether others in The Meadow need it, too.

Grace and peace ...

Brother Jim Green ...

2006-09-01T02:03:00.000-04:00

The Rev. James R. "Jim" Green is leading divine worship and Holy Communion this Sunday while I spend some family time at Ripshin.

Jim's a retired (OK, not that retired) pastor with whom I have been acquainted for more than 10 years now. When I arrived at The Meadow, Jim and his wife Carol were already there. Their presence has been a blessing to me, as well as the rest of the community.

If you have never been in worship with Jim before, I encourage you to come. His knowledge of the Word and his style of delivering the message leaves quite an impression.

One day I'm going to ask him to serve and not go anywhere, just so I can hear him preach.

Grace and peace ...

BBQ in The Meadow

2006-08-16T23:52:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, Wil Waugh brought his new smoker over to The Meadow and we put it to the test. It passed with flying colors ... or, should I say "embers."

We cooked about 25-plus pounds of pork butt, using the Wood Family BBQ sauce on two butts, while we used a rub on another butt. Both styles got high marks from the three dozen people who hung around after worship on Sunday.

As Wil and I sat there chewing the proverbial fat, he offered, "You know, we might get a little hungry later. Maybe we ought to throw a couple of chickens on." I called Donna and she allowed that we could all break bread together. She made a pasta salad, while Becky fetched three fryers and some corn on the cob.

It was a delicious feast and wonderful fellowship.

Sometime Saturday afternoon Bill West stopped by. "You boys are liable to be hungry in the morning. Are the men getting together for breakfast?" We thought that would be a fine idea, since it was the second Sunday of the month and The Meadow Men usually meet on that morning.

The high point of the day:
Wil said, "I think that firebox is too close to that tire."
Buzz said, "Yeah ... I think so, too."
Donna said, "There's a bubble raising on that tire."
The bubble said, "POP!"

Grace and peace ...

Modern-day prophets

2006-07-29T22:52:00.000-04:00

There are books on my shelf waiting to be read. What with reading for a living as an editor, it sometimes takes me a while to plow through one.

My reading for pleasure normally consists of ministry-related material, which is one of several reasons I don't think I could handle going to seminary. It would get in the way of my ministerial studies.

I just finished Shane Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an ordinary radical." I started it while at annual conference. It was a trip, and you can read my initial thoughts on the June 15 entry at "Gathering Wool."

As if I don't have enough books waiting for me, I ordered another ordinary radical book called "Starving Jesus." It's been pinned by Craig Gross and JR Mahon, both of whom are part of XXXChurch. The sample chapter is intriguing; a sample chapter is what drew me in to Shane's book.

Joel 2:28-32 has probably been overquoted, but I've gotta tell ya folks: I think there are some young prophets among the church today ... and we need to be listening.

Grace and peace ...

Tiit Henno: "All my things are in heaven."

2006-07-03T00:03:00.000-04:00

I went to former Soviet Bloc nation of Estonia in the fall of 1999 with Bob Ergenbright of Broadway United Methodist Church. It was an eye-opening trip that left a mark on me in many ways. It also began a friendship with Veljo Puuljalg, with whom I still correspond via e-mail.

I also met the Rev. Tiit Henno and recently Veljo began sending me e-mails, noting that Tiit's health had taken a turn for the worse. Upon returning from my annual Fourth of July jaunt to West Tennessee, I learned from Veljo that the Methodist pastor had 'left this World,' as my brother Veljo said.

Recently, a pastor friend of mine shared a quote from the Jesuit scientist named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

Tiit Henno's spirit has left this human experience.

With that in mind, I take this space to share part of Tiit's Human experience, which he shared with me in 1999 and I, in turn, shared with readers of The Daily Times:

(Beging interview text)

Tiit Henno is a slight man of 46 years with dark hair and a compassionate face, a face that often reveals the struggles of one who pastors an aging congregation once hindered by decades of Soviet oppression. Now, it’s the choices offered by independence – what one could call “the World” – that hinders the church and likely bewilders its shepherd.

Tiit knows the price his predecessors paid for living out their faith at this simple clapboard building known as Kuressaare Methodist Church.

On an autumn night following a worship service, Tiit rises from a dinner table in a narrow room just off from the sanctuary. The table is surrounded by visiting American Christians who have come to serve as a mission team, concentrating on audiological, optometric and substance abuse prevention. Sometimes in broken English, sometimes with the help of an interpreter, but often with teary eyes, Tiit humbly tells the story of Martin Prikask, a former businessman who founded this church – the first Methodist church in Estonia – and served as the first superintendent of the Estonian Methodist conference.

“In 1941 … the communists deported this man to Siberia and he was shot in ’42,” Tiit says. “And he was buried symbolically in this cemetery, of this town, but he’s actually there in Siberia.”

One of the team members notes, “His body is there but his spirit is here.”

“Yes,” Tiit says in agreement. “We come to say that he was a martyr. But very much the members of this congregation escaped to West, and was deported to Siberia and to Germany. But all the time the services was held. During the worst, also. And after there was three congregations. For about 50 years was three congregations here: Methodists, Baptists and (Seventh Day) Adventists. There was very much activity. But, as you know, the Baptist church has now own beautiful new church, Zion Church, but the Adventists are also now here.

“And this was the living room of this man,” Tiit says, sweeping his arm around the room now holding the dinner table. “This was his sleeping room,” he says, pointing to an adjoining room now used as a cooking area.

“And he was such man who very much prayed,” Tiit says. “Before services he was in church and he knelt on the top of each bench and prayed for these people who will sit in this bench.

“Yes, he has written also books, very good books, and the people love them. Ja, I have such a feeling that I will continue now this work that he began. This was first Methodist congregation in Estonia. The Methodists came to Estonia from St. Petersburg (Russia) and from Kuressarre, Saaremaa, this movement came to the mainland also, and to Tallinn also.

“I believe that will come such time that our church will again be full of people. Now, we have only 65 members,” he says somewhat disappointedly.

At this point, Taimi Krull, an interpreter from the Zion Church, says something to Tiit in Estonian. He sighs and smiles, and she addresses the group.

“Ten years ago when our new times began, youths gathered in this church from Kuressaare. This church was full of young people, every Monday evening, very full. And this was fantastic revival here, and from this began also a Pentecostal church at Kuressaare. … Most of the young people go to the Pentecostal church.”

“Ten or 11 years ago, this began when a new movement for liberty began in Estonia, and also began revival times in churches.”

The Kuressaare Methodist Church was built in 1912 and has not been reconstructed – even the English shake roof remains the same.

Tiit was sent to the church for a two-week revival in 1976, but it turned out to be a long-term assignment. While the team was in Kuressaare, Tiit celebrated his 23rd year at the church.
When he moved there, Tiit recalls, “All I had was a little map and a little bag with my clothes.”

Now, he says, he has much more.

“Everything I have belongs to Jesus,” Tiit says. “All my things are in heaven.”

(end interview text)

"Everything I have belongs to Jesus. All my things are in heaven."

Sometimg during the night of Thursday, June 29, 2006, Tiit joined his "things," as well as his Lord.

Grace and peace ...

"Is this heaven?"

2006-06-24T01:10:00.001-04:00

I've spent a few hours over the past couple of days in a most unique setting called the People Against Poverty and Apathy (P.A.P.A.) Festival.

As I write this, there are a couple of hundred people or so camping together on a farm in Greenback, Tennessee. Why? Because they are the family of God, and they each have an idea of what it really means to live in Christian community.

They've come from all over -- New Jersey, Kentucky, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and beyond -- and many of them live in modern monastic communities with names like Camden House, the Nehemiah Project, New Jerusalem, and The Simple Way.

As I walked around the hillsides, there was a sweet spirit hovering and the feeling of having been transported to another time and place -- a time of oceanside baptisms and a place where Jesus Freaks wandered about, spreading love and sharing peanut butter sandwiches.

I was reminded of the movie "Field of Dreams," and the scene where Ray Cansella's ghost dad has made his first visit to the Field. He turns and looks and asks Ray, "Is this heaven?" Ray replies, "No, this is Iowa."

Is that farm in Greenback heaven?

No, but it could be a glimpse of what Christian community could be here.

Grace and peace ...

Back online ...

2006-05-31T23:33:00.000-04:00

... it's just that my computer has been in and out of the shop for about two weeks now.

I just now got most of the software loaded back on. However, I still have to locate my original copy of FrontPage so I can update themeadow.org.

Now, it's to bed; working dayside this week and I still have much to do on Sunday's worship.

Grace and peace,
Buzz

So many books; so little time ...

2006-05-09T20:53:00.002-04:00

I picked up several books for Christmas that had been on my reading list. Among those, "Adventures in Missing the Point," co-authored by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo. McLaren is a favorite writer of mine who addresses the changing face of Christianity, and I've long been a fan of Campolo, whose mixture of sociology and theology appeals to me. (I had a double major in college of communications and sociology.)

In "Missing the Point," McLaren and Campolo take turns looking at how we miss the point on issues such as homosexuality, salvation, postmodernism, the Bible, worship, truth, and others. I think it would make a great series of Sunday morning coversations.

My reading of the McLaren-Campolo venture was interrupted by mandatory course-of-study readings. However, I finished "Missing the Point" this morning and have moved on to one of McLaren's earlier books, "A New Kind of Christian." Afterward, I plan on reading Shane Claibnorne's "The Irresistible Revolution," and then I have a couple of Brennan Manning books to read.

In addition, I've forced myself to NOT read ministry-oriented books before retiring to bed. My mind races whenever I do that and I'm unable to sleep. So, I've started reading Clive Cussler books. It's been years since I read non-fiction, but this allows me to shut down.

All the while, there is Scripture ...

So many books; so little time.

Grace and peace ...

"Christ's Gift To Us Today"

2006-04-11T08:40:00.000-04:00

During Lent, I have been using the devotional "Renewed for Life, Daily Meditations From the Works of Henri J.M. Nouwen" (c 2003, Creative Communications for the Parish), and I thought I would share this morning's meditation:

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Cor. 11:26)

God says, "I am your God and will be faithful to you even when you won't be faithful to me." Through human history, this divine faithfulness is shown to us in God's increasing desire for intimacy. At first God was for us, our protector and our shield. Then, when Jesus came, God became God with us, our companion and friend. finally, when Jesus sent his Spirit, God was revealed to us as the God within us, our very breath and heartbeat.

Our life is full of brokenness -- broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives? Without this "place" of return, our journey easily leads us to darkness and despair. But with this safe and solid home, we can keep renewing our faith, and keep trusting that the many setbacks of life move us forward to any always greater bond with the God of the covenant.

I pray with all my heart that you, Lord, heal me. Let me learn from your example that the freedom of forgiveness also frees me for service and love.Amen.

I have found this devotional quite helpful as I continue to emerge from my yearlong desert experience.

We are in the midst of Holy Week services at Union Grove United Methodist Church in Friendsville. God's house has been just short of packed each night. The combined worship services have also helped my own spirit. I left The Grove filled with joy and expectations. In essence, it has been a renewal. Perhaps it is because that for two of the three nights I have been a congregant.

Today is Holy Thursday, and the Rev. Stan Johnson, pastor at "The Grove," will lead worship. I long for the bread and cup ...

My short prayer for the day: "O God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you!"

grace and peace ...

Rob Bell and Wednesday nights ...

2006-03-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

We had our second Lenten midweek gathering on Wednesday night at The Meadow.

If you include me and the pianist, there were five of us.

Eight, if you include the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It's a more relaxed, conversational time of worship, and I've decided I need that interlude between Sundays. After the Lenten season, I may look for some more multimedia material.

I don't prepare a message. Instead, we gather, pray, read Scripture and then spend some time in worship with song. In the past two weeks, we have also been watching and listening to Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church. Rob's a youngish pastor with a unique style that appeals to me.

It seems it also appeals to some of the older saints at Green Meadow. Because, outside of me, the pianist and music leader (who was at "Stomp!" tonight), it's been a few of the older folks who have been coming.

"What's he gonna talk about next," said an 80-something excitedly, after Bell's words on God believing in us. "I can't wait!"

Ah, the enthusiasm of the old in faith and young in heart. It's hard to beat!

Grace and peace ...

The Absentee Blogger ...

2006-03-07T00:27:00.000-05:00

It's been way too long since I posted, but there's a good reason.

Most of you know that I am a bivocational pastor, with my other gig being that of a newspaper editor. If you will notice, my last post was Jan. 25. That date is no coincidence.

In the small-town newspaper business there is a creature called "Progress Editions." These are extra sections we put out to boost advertising revenue in February, which is traditionally a low advertising month. That week was our first deadline.

This is also the time of year when I engage in what is called "Course of Study," which is mandated in order for me to retain my Local Pastor license.

So, between the newspaper, Course of Study, preparing for worship, and attempting to spend time with my wife, I've had little time to post on this blog, nor on Gathering Wool.

In the words of MacArthur: I shall return.

Grace and peace,
buzz

Making room for God ...

2006-01-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

I have a copy of Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest" that I keep handy for devotions. On the fly page of the inside cover is the inscription "Dick & Joan Pace, Christmas '90."

Today's devotion is entitled "Leave Room For God." Chambers writes, "Do not look for God to come in any particular way, but look for Him. That is the way to make room for Him. Expect Him to come, but do not expect Him only in a certain way."

The Paces were once our neighbors and our families went to church together. Our kids played together and Dick was an early influence on me as I began my journey with Jesus. It didn't matter whether we were cutting wood for the winter, standing in the driveway talking, or hanging together with our kids, we always made room for God. And Dick taught me to look for God to come anywhere, and everywhere, in life.

It was Dick who introduced me to the music of Keith Green, which influenced the way I viewed discipleship and led me to others who were then making room for God in the music industry. It now occurs to me that Randy Pudelek, another brother who makes room for God, introduced me to Larry Norman, the great-granddaddy of contemporary Christian music.

Dick also exposed me to pentecostal Bible studies, and worship that broadened my understanding of the Christian experience. It opened my mind to the knowledge that God doesn't just show up with the "warming of the heart," but the fire of the Spirit, and we have to make room for God in things we don't always understand. The experience led me to believe that all Christians are pentecostals, just in different flavors.

Eventually, my work at The Daily Times grabbed hold of my life in a big way, cutting into my relationships. Later, the Paces moved out of the neighborhood, changed churches and our lives grew further apart.

Dick and I bump into each other occsionally, and it's the same way with Randy. If we talk for very long at all, we are soon making room for God to enter into the conversation.

This morning I thank God for them and some of the other men who, in the early days of my life in the Spirit, taught me to leave room for God: Don Haas, Coley Pardue and Don Arnurius.

Grace and peace ...

Coming out of the desert ...

2006-01-13T00:37:00.000-05:00

I am currently coming out of a desert experience that will likely be shared at some point.

Part of what is helping is being drawn again to that imtimate relationsip with God that can only come through solitude.

In his book, "The Way of the Heart: Connecting With God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence," the late Henri Nouwen writes:

"Solitude .. is the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter. Solitude is not simply a means to an end. Solitude is its own end. It is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image and frees us from the victimizing compusions of the world. Solitude is the place of our salvation." (p22)

I have let the world draw me from those places of solitude, leading me into the desert -- 'a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.' It continues to beckon, but my spirit resists.

In a section called "The Compulsive Minister," Nouwen writes:

"Thomas Merton writes in the introduction to his 'The Wisdom of theDesert: 'Society ... was regarded (by the Desert Fathers) as a shipwreck from which each single individual man had to swim for his life ... These were men who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster.'

Nouwen says, "The basic question is whether we ministers of Jesus Christ have not already been so deeply molded by the seductive powers of our dark world that we have become blind to our own and other people's fatal state and have lost the power and motivation to swim for our lives. ... Thus we are busy people just like all other busy people, rewarded with the rewards which are rewarded to busy people!" (pp11-12)

It is time to "swim for our lives!"

Grace and peace ...

The pin is not mightier ...

2005-12-30T07:40:00.000-05:00

I sometimes pop over to Holston Talk, a forum on the United Methodist Church's Holston Conference Web site.

Dr. Paul Humphrey, who serves at Valley Forge UMC near Elizabethton, Tennessee, recently used the forum to invite my comments on AIDS in America. The invitation was in a wide-ranging "thread" of posts that apparently started with an article found by way of RumorMillNews.com.

The very name of that site speaks volumes.

At any rate, it was purported to be an essay by someone named Jim Phelps, who apparently did work at the Oak Ridge National Lab.

I scanned over Phelps’ piece, as well as some other stuff related to him on the Web. It’s a bit too much for me in that so many of his premises on AIDS and other matters are based upon things of which I have no knowledge. They ring in my mind like so much gobbledygook.

You know, I am no expert on AIDS as a disease, and would never dare to speak in that regard. My concern for AIDS sufferers is rooted in the knowledge that, given my lifestyle before becoming a Christian, I could easily have been one of those millions. (If you are interested in why I say that, go to the Gathering Wool blog and read the July 16 and 17, 2004, entries.)

Furthermore, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am called to serve the least, the last and the lost.

Certainly, AIDS victims are among the least, the last and the lost in this world.
The convicting question surfaces in my spirit as I write this: When have I served a cold cup of water to an AIDS sufferer?

Like most of the church, never.

As a journalist who came into the business just as AIDS was arriving on the public scene and who has watched reports spanning decades, I have been exposed to the many barstool and radio talk show theories. Some of that stuff may be true and it is acceptable to ponder and probe those things, but to what benefit is that to someone who is dying from the disease?

On a recent morning, I dug into my file and found a nearly 20-year-old newspaper clip. It was of a story stripped across the front page of the now-defunct daily newspaper The Knoxville Journal, headlined, "Resolving the fear of AIDS: He had to know if past indiscretions might harm new family." At the urging of my editors, the first-person piece ran without a byline.

The story spoke of my fears and uncertainty about whether I could be carrying the virus. (Incidentally, I had just turned 30 years old and had only been a Christian for about a year and a half.) Because of those fears, I decided to be tested for the virus.

Thanks be to God, the test returned negative.

I briefly considered that clip in light of the theories on AIDS, effectively asking myself: Were you ever concerned about whether the disease came from primates in Africa, or whether it was a secret CIA plot to wipe out a particular demographic?

Not in the least.

I was scared ... for me, and for my family. As a young believer, it was also an early experience of trusting God with the unknown. After all, if we can not trust him with the unknown in this life, how can we trust him with the unknown in the afterlife?

Too often we spend an inordinate amount of time counting the number of angels on the head of a pin, rather than giving someone a cold cup of water.

That’s probably because we would rather spend time with the pin — or even the pen — than with the people.

Grace and peace ...

Viewing Christmas With Herod eyes ...

2005-12-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, I spun off of Len Sweet's sermon, "With Christmas Eyes." I was intrigued by the different eyes with which the coming of the Christ child was viewed.

As is sometimes my practice, I "promoed" the sermon on my congregational e-mail list and received this from the Rev. James R. Green. Jim and his wife, Carol, are a part of the faith community at The Meadow.

Jim wrote back:

"The fact is the only one who really understood Christmas was Herod. The threat to our thrones has never gone away and so we love the baby but avoid the man. The curious thing is we avoid the man by extolling the baby.

"All of the merchants ring out the chorus, 'What a friend we have in Jesus.' What I think that we really need to do is put Christmas back into Christ."

Wow.

"The threat to our thrones has never gone away and so we love the baby but avoid the man."

That thought continued to roll around in my head. It wasn't long before it took form in this manner:

The Baby Jesus is easy to get excited about, because there are few, if any, demands.
The God-Man Jesus brings with Him all of the baggage that sacrifice demands.
The greatest throne we set up is the throne of Self, and so we serve the God-Man at our leisure -- we worship at our leisure, we pray at our leisure, we serve others at our leisure and we give at our leisure.

Yes, Herod saw the ultimate threat of the Manger Messiah to his throne, and so he sought to kill him. Do we "kill" the God-Man, who threatens our throne of Self, by focusing on the Baby Jesus and all of the glitz and glimmer of the consumer-religious holiday of Christmas?

Grace and peace ...

The Imitator: 'But we are men, nothing else but frail men ..."

2005-12-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

Thought I would return to "The Imitation of Christ."

A couple of weekends ago, my family stayed at Fairhaven Ministries, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for a Christmas gathering. At the same time, World Relief's staff from High Point, N.C., was holding a retreat there. It was a great time of fellowship in a wonderful setting.

It was our third visit with Fairhaven, and one of the things I looked forward to was perusing the book case in our chalet -- a book case that is filled with Christian literature. So, it wasn't surprising to find in our chalet's book case a full volume of "The Imitation of Christ" in modern language. Having been confined to the "Great Devotional Classics" pamphlet that I've been reading, it was a joy to read this work in greater depth.

Incidentally, I stopped by the Cokesbury Bookstore in Knoxville and asked if they had "Imitation" in stock, and they did not. A young pastor who works there was also disappointed, almost to the point of embarrassment.

Well ... back to "The Imitator."

"On First Principles: Man's Instability Until Established"

We are reminded that we are human, nothing else but frail humans; although, many may call us angels.

But don't we know that self-love is more damaging than anything else in the world? There is no worse enemy, nor anything more troubling to the soul, than we are to ourselves if we are not in harmony with the Holy Spirit.

Many of us seek to lift up ourselves with what we do, and we don't even know it!

We are more inclined to those outward things, while we are negligent in the inward and spiritual things. We are quickly angered, and so ready to be angry with one another. ... We are so joyful in prosperity, while we are so weak in adversity.

We are so inconsistent, but our foundation is in the grace of God. We may be lukewarm, but our hearts can be set on fire by the Holy Spirit.

As A.W. Tozer writes, "We are children of the burning heart."

Grace and peace ...

'Disturbing Voices' indeed ...

2005-12-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

A little more than a week ago, news outlets reported that about 2,000 evangelical pastors gathered at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., to discuss how to start local AIDS ministries and free HIV testing in churches.

The national conference, tagged "Disturbing Voices," appears to represent a change in mission for many churches; however, it’s not for a lack of having been called to do so in the past, nor for a lack of awareness.

My first memory of the church — evangelical and otherwise — being publicly called to minister in compassion to AIDS sufferers goes back to the 1980s.

While it wasn’t the huge money-making machine that it is today, contemporary Christian musicians gathered en masse in 1988 to perform and release "Do You Feel Their Pain?" The song was co-written by Steve Camp, who is not known for soft-pedaling the Gospel, and called for greater compassion and increased ministry to AIDS sufferers. Consider this lyrical plea:

"Have we failed again — talking about the love of God, but judging those who need it most?

"All these afflicted ones, I feel their lives just fade away, left to face the end alone.

"So we say a prayer for their needs; afraid to touch, to hurt, to bleed.

"Do you feel their pain? Has it touched your life? Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry? Will you love them more than the hate that's been? Will you love them back to life again?"

So, why did so many churches fail to respond?

Many believe it is likely due to the early labeling of AIDS as a "gay disease." However, the question is this: Even if the disease is the result of risky sexual contact — whether heterosexual or homosexual — should that be any valid reason for a lack of compassion on the part of Christians, conservative or otherwise?

In response to the "Disturbing Voices" initiative, Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation — a leading gay rights organization — told The AP that he welcomed the outreach as long as it wasn’t judgmental.

"For far too long, many radical right pastors have mischaracterized the disease for their own political purposes and we have reaped the unfortunate reward of that misinformation," he said. "It is good news that evangelicals are now embracing people with HIV and AIDS to help us get our needs met."

As for a nonjudgmental response, we can only hope and pray. Because there are those today who would even deny church membership to homosexuals, disregarding the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If we bar the door to those who fall victim to particular temptations, then we are not walking in the way of Christ.

In November 1995, the late Rich Mullins was in concert in Knoxville and told a story that stopped this writer in his tracks. Rich’s story was later recounted in the June 1997 edition of CCM magazine that was devoted to AIDS, Christian artists and the church.

Rich said he befriended a man at a steakhouse while hiking along the Appalachian Trail. As darkness fell, the man (whom the magazine refers to as "John) offered Rich a ride back to his campsite. As the truck pulls out of town, John speaks up.

John: I probably oughta tell you that I’m gay.

Rich: I probably oughta tell you that I’m a Christian.

John: Well do you want to get out of the truck?

Rich: No. It’s still getting dark, and (my camp) is still four miles up the road.

John: But I thought Christians hated gays.

Rich: That’s really weird. My understanding of what Christ told us was that Christians were to love. I didn’t know there were a lot of parameters set on that.

John: I thought God hated gays.

Rich: That’s funny, because I thought God is love, and He has no choice but to love because that is what He is.

John: Do you believe AIDS is God’s punishment on gays?

Rich: Well possibly, in the same sense that presidents are God’s punishment on voters. I mean there are consequences. We make choices, and there are natural consequences for those choices.

John: Will I go to hell for being gay?

Rich: (I was ready to go, "Well, yes, of course, you’ll go to hell for being gay." But that was one of those moments when the Good News really impressed me. What I heard myself say was ...) No, of course you won’t go to hell for being gay any more than I would go to hell for being dishonest. The only reason anybody ever went to hell was because they rejected the grace that God so longed to give them.

John: I grew up in the church, and I’ve never heard anybody say that God loved me.

Rich: I think that of all the diseases in the world, the disease that all humankind suffers from, the disease that is most devastating to us is not AIDS, it’s not gluttony, it’s not cancer, it’s not any of those things. It is the disease that comes about because we live in the ignorance of the wealth of love that God has for us. What a great message we in the church have. It’s relevant to people with AIDS and people without AIDS. It’s relevant to homosexuals and homophobes. It’s relevant to Republicans and Democrats, to abortionists and anti-abortionists. It’s relevant across the board.

As Rich finished the story at Knoxville Civic Auditorium on that fall night, I could not help but look around and expect to see youth pastors quickly ushering their kids out the door. Instead, I saw people intently listening to this tale of grace.

Now, nearly 20 years after “Do You Feel Their Pain?” and 10 years after Rich told that story in Knoxville, it remains “news” when a large number of churches decide to minister to those who are battling AIDS.

To be sure, there are those already involved in such ministry, in some manner or fashion, and for that we give God the glory.

But May God have mercy on the rest of us when we are selective in which least, last and lost we choose to serve.

Aslan's on the move ... and so is God.

2005-12-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

I have always had a fondness for books. Perhaps it’s because I moved around quite a bit as a youngster and finding the local library gave me a sense of stability.

I always knew where to find books.

In elementary school, there were books such as "Henry and the Homework Machine"; as a teen, they ran the gamut from Colin Smith’s "Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist," to Robin Moore novels. In college, I read the usual mandated literature, but also explored the writings of Ken Kesey, Hunter Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Jack Kerouac and Hermann Hesse.

Then, a friend of mine introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit," and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I later discovered Tolkien was a contemporary of C.S. Lewis.

While I perused Lewis’ "Mere Christianity" and "The Screwtape Letters," I had never read any of the books from his "Chronicles of Narnia" series. As an adult, I always considered them kid’s stuff.

That was until this past summer, when my 23-year-old son David got excited about the release of the upcoming movie, "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe."

David read the series as a youngster and while we were on vacation began consuming them again. So, I decided to read them, too. Now, I’m also excited about the upcoming movie.

In "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," we are taken to the land of Narnia. It is a strange land where you find animals who talk, trees that walk, giants, dwarves, fauns and a witch -- not just any witch, mind you, but the White Witch.

Like any despot, the White Witch set herself up as queen of the land, and she was a cruel, ruthless, tyrannical queen. Because the White Witch was cold of heart, it was always winter in Narnia.
And there was never Christmas.

If the White Witch is the pretender to the throne, who is the rightful ruler of Narnia? His name is Aslan -- a beautiful, kingly lion.

Narnians know that Aslan can overthrow the White Witch, but the problem is this: Aslan rules somewhat in absentia, in that he’s nowhere to be seen. Still, Narnians live in the hope and expectation that he will return to establish warmth, peace and harmony to their land.

Four human children -- sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, as they are called -- enter Narnia through a magical wardrobe. Once they are deep within the wardrobe, the children find themselves on an adventure in a frozen land.

At one point, they join the company of Mr. Beaver, who tells them:
"They say Aslan is on the move -- perhaps has already landed."

It is Mr. Beaver who gives them the words of prophecy:
"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

"At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

"When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death

"And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

For Aslan can defeat the evil queen, and thaw the frozen land of Narnia.

To be sure, when Aslan is on the move, the frozen land of Narnia begins to thaw.

Throughout the Christian year, we live in the knowledge that "Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again."

During the season of Advent, we live specifically in expectation of the time when Christ will come again and peace will reign, thawing the frozen hearts of this world.

Because that’s what happens when God is on the move.

How do we know? Because of the story of God and his people, found in Scripture.

There, we learned it is what happened when God was on the move at the dawn of creation, when "the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering (was moving) over the waters.

"And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light."

And God was on the move in the city of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.

The disciples were gathered in the Upper Room, when, "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

"They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

We also discover that God was on the move on the Damascus Road, when Saul was struck blind, only to later receive new eyes, a new name as Paul, and a new mission.

God was on the move when Peter was in prison, and an angel of the Lord appeared, leading him to freedom; as was also done later with Paul and Silas.

And God was also on the move in the heart of a jailer, who asked them, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

That’s what happens when God is on the move:

Darkness becomes light;
things without form become new creations;
cold hearts become warm;
and new lives emerge from old.

In this season of Advent, know that despite wars and rumors of wars, God is on the move.

Make no mistake: He still moves in the hearts of men and women today.

Be careful: He may even move in yours during this Christmas season.

Grace and peace ...

The Imitator: The Inward Supplement to Following Christ

2005-11-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

The Imitator of Christ seeks to be filled with the love of the Savior; in fact, to be bathed in that love.

"I would gladly speak to you my word and manifest to you my secrets, if you would only diligently watch for my coming and open unto me the door of your heart."

Blessed is the soul that hears the voice of the Lord, and the ears that "receive the pulses of the divine whisper." The Imitator does not give primary ear to the voices that are "sounding without" -- the words of Moses and the prophets -- but for the inward voice of Truth.

"They indeed may utter words, but they cannot give the Spirit. Most beautifully do they speak, but if you are silent, they do not inflame the heart."

How often do we seek the counsel of man before ever approaching the counsel of the Spirit? We may get excited about the words of a modern-day prophet, but once the words have been spoken, what is left but echoes falling into the night.

There is far better counsel in the eternal "divine whisper" that never leaves you, that never forsakes you, than the words of mortal man.

We pray with The Imitator: Speak, therefore, Lord, for your servant listens; for you have the words of eternal life. Speak to me, to the comfort, however imperfect, of my soul, and to the amendment of my whole life, and to your everlasting praise, honor, and glory. Amen.

Grace and peace ...